The Love of Kyon and Itsuki Koizumi
by Elzah-Chan
Summary: It's finally time for another search for mysterious beings, this time in winter. And Kyon is paired up with Itsuki, where he learns some interesting facts, which lead to interesting consequences! Contains fluff between Kyon and Itsuki, comedy, and a bit of angst in later chapters.
1. Late

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 1**

It was a beautiful winter's day, the frost had settled on the grass, making the earth look like it had just been dusted off with icing sugar however there was a bitterly cold wind. Heck, it was the perfect day for having a cup of hot chocolate and just sitting in watching TV all day…

…so why the hell am I cycling to the train station?

Basically…the 'great overlord' Haruhi Suzumiya decided that we need to have ONCE AGAIN another search for espers, time-travellers and aliens…if only she knew that in her brigade all 3 of these …'beings' were already there…irony much?

I gritted my teeth at the cold as I arrived at the station to see Haruhi, Koizumi, Asahina-san and Nagato all standing there already. I pulled up beside them, shivering slightly and sighed wearily as Haruhi stomped over to me and declared

"Late. Penalty."

For the note, I wasn't actually late. If anything, I was really 10 minutes early, however according to 'the great overlord,' Haruhi, whom all must submit to, the last person to arrive has to buy everyone food and stuff in the café. My house was pretty far away from the station so even if I took my bike (which I did) I'd still probably end up late anyway… but damn that's annoying…

As we all sat in the cafe, the rest of the group silently drinking the drinks I brought them, (And luckily for me Haruhi commanded them to all order the most expensive beverages on the menu) Haruhi suddenly declared (Almost causing Asahina-san to fall off her seat in shock) "RIGHT SOS BRIGADE!"

Kindly shut up. This is a family café.

"I know our last trip wasn't a great success…But this time we WILL FIND ALIENS TIME-TRAVELLERS AND ESPERS!" She cheered, raising one of her fists in the air expecting everyone else to join in however we all just looked embarrassed down at our drinks…however when I say all…I just mean me and Asahina-san…Nagato was still wearing her top-notch polka face, so there was no way I could tell what she was thinking and Koizumi still just wore his irritatingly plastic smile.

I suddenly stopped my internal monologue as I realised Haruhi had shoved a handful of paper in my face. "Take one." She demanded.

Fearing for my life, I quickly took a piece of paper (which she took out of nowhere) and looked at the blue tip at the end…blue group huh?

I looked up to see Asahina-san clutching a piece of red tipped paper; she looked at it with the most adorable face, her head tilted slightly to the side similar to that of a bird. But…damn that means she's not in my group… Nagato was robotically holding her piece of red tipped paper, motionless, still wearing her polka face. Haruhi, (Thank God.) also had a red piece of paper…but for some reason, she was staring at the red bit as if it was her mortal enemy whom had returned from the dead after she had thought they were long dead.

Wait…that means I'm in a group with…I looked at Koizumi, who also held a blue piece of paper. He shrugged and smiled at me again…like always.

Great.

Suddenly, Haruhi thudded her fist on the table making all of the drinks almost tip over and spill "DAMMIT! KYON!" She pointed her finger several centimetres from my face causing me to jump slightly.

"DON'T MUCK AROUND!"

And with that 'wonderful' message, Haruhi shoved the bill towards me before storming out of the café with Asahina-san and Nagato in tow.

…does she really not trust me that much?

Oh, and by the way, the name 'Kyon' belongs to me. It's not my actual name, but when my Grandmother accidently called me 'Kyon'…and unwelcome twist on my actual name…and my sister overheard, thinking it was hilarious, and she started calling me by that name…and then some friends came round, heard her calling me that…and well…you can kinda guess what happened…unfortunately for me.

I watched them leave before turning to Koizumi…this is the first time I got to go around with him…was I nervous?...nah …more like nervous about hanging around an 'always-smiling-a-plastic-smile-when-I-probably-have-evil-ulterior-motives' kind of guy.

As my eyes narrowed in suspicion Koizumi began to speak "Well…fancy you and me being together? I wonder if Suzumiya-san wished for this…or maybe this is just my lucky day?" He gave a wheezy laugh similar to that of a rooster with a throat problem before looking at my completely 'what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you' face.

What did he just say?

"I merely jest." He said calmly once more before smiling at me once again.

Hilarious.

I really wanted to punch this guy in the face. I wonder if he will still be smiling after that.

I looked back down to the bill before looking in my wallet and wincing. These past few months, the amount of money I own appears to be decreasing at a worrying rate.

I quickly paid for the meal, before turning to Koizumi, who was putting on his jacket preparing to leave.

Thanks for offering to pay by the way.

He looked up towards me, whom was staring at him like an idiot and he smiled his plastic smile. "Shall we go then to search for the 'unknown'?"

"Yeah, sure."

That was my fast response however in my mind I had a horrible feeling in my gut that he was up to something… but I'm sure it's just a feeling…I hope.

Good grief…

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><p>Yay~! Chapter one is finally done! I've been meaning to upload this story for a while but I never got round to it...but... here we are! ^o^ Oh, and I know there isn't much yaoi in this chapter but...there should be more in the next ones! xD Review and look forward to it~!<p>

-Elzah-Chan

p.s. this is my first story btw, so...im sorry if its not good but... I WILL IMPROVE! :3


	2. Awkward

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 2**

Koizumi and myself both walked outside of the café and stood there in awkward silence. I hugged my shoulders in a desperate attempt to keep warm…it wasn't working. I chanced a look at Koizumi who still, unsurprisingly had his plastic smile…he looked like a Ken Barbie doll…his looks were kinda similar too…and I have no idea what I'm talking about anymore.

"So…What do we do?" I asked trying to break the silence.

Koizumi looked at me with his light chocolate brown eyes, making me almost jump with surprise. "Well, what do you want to do, Kyon?"

The fact that he said my name as if he was enjoying it made me feel slightly sick.

Geez, this is the first time I've ever been so creeped out by someone that isn't Haruhi…

"Um…well shall we start walking that way?" I pointed in some random direction…I THINK this is the route I went with Asahina-san…not that there was any reason I chose to go that way…

Koizumi gave a smile that actually looked like a true smile…which was really freaky bearing in mind I only said what way I want to go… "Let's go then." He started walking off with his hands in his pockets leaving me standing there like an idiot.

We eventually ended up walking by the riverside, however rather than the trees around it being full of pink cherry-blossoms as it was in spring, there were only dark, dead, and unattractive branches. The river also still had a couple of lumps of ice in it, presumably from last night when it froze over…

I looked back from the river reluctantly towards Koizumi, who was walking beside me with a spring in his step...it's so cold…the fact that he could have so much energy on such a cold day pissed me off…I fought the urge to push him into the river and continued walking in silence…however Koizumi seemed like he didn't want to.

"There are a lot of couples walking down here, isn't there." He looked at me smiling. I looked at him once before looking forward again, blushing slightly.

Why the hell did I react like that? …no…More to the point…why did he bring that up?

"Um…yeah?" As I looked around, I had to admit that he did have a point. Every so often we'd be passed by a man and a woman, arm in arm and looking into each-others eyes adoringly…which I had to admit looked kinda stupid rather than romantic…

We passed around five couples and families until we eventually reached some random bench, as of which we sat down on…it was cold due to the frost however my legs were kinda sore from all of the walking so I just kind of coped with it.

I tried to keep as far as I could away from him on the bench however it was such a small bench that in order for us to comfortably sit there we had to sit a couple of centimetres away from each other.

Great. So now it's inevitable for him to be bursting my personal space bubble.

It wasn't long before I realised that this was the same bench that I sat on with Asahina-san that time in the spring…apart from that time…even though we were sitting there under the same situation…I was much less happier…Geez, I wonder why?

It was really awkward so I felt like I should say something "Hey, Koizumi."

He looked at me, slightly shocked at the fact that I spoke to him. "W-what is it?" He quickly maintained his plastic smile…however he seemed very…distracted.

Wow. I've NEVER heard Koizumi stutter before.

"You're a transfer student right? Why did you transfer?"

It seemed like as good a conversation topic as any.

"Oh…" His eyes darkened slightly and his smile seemed to falter for a second "Well…as you know I am part of an organisation of espers, yes?" He looked at me expectantly and I nodded "Well, we required more back-up with Suzumiya-san so I was required to travel here. They also required someone to physically interact with her, as well as fulfil her desires."

I interrupted "So, the whole mysterious, secret past, transfer student thing?"

"It's just an act."

I figured as much.

He looked at me with a joking smile. "Why Kyon? Do you wish to see my true personality?"

"No." I gave a quick answer and glared at him even though I had to admit I was a bit curious to see what he was like truly like…I mean, anyone else would be…right?

He gave painfully fake sounding laugh "The problem is that…I was forced to leave my family behind in order to come here…the agency didn't want them getting…'Involved.'"

I felt a sudden twist in my gut.

Wait, Wait, Wait… so he's living on his own? …I'm not sure why I was so surprised, I mean, Nagato lives by herself…but then again she's an alien…Koizumi seems so much more…human… when compared to her…I guess he seems a bit more like a family kind of guy… and I wonder why I'm thinking to myself so much about him…I'm just going to ignore my mental monologue now.

"…do you miss them?" That was the only thing that felt right to say…

Koizumi gave another painful sounding laugh "All the time."

He was the last person who I expected to have such a sad past…

He looked towards me with a smile that seemed to be bearing so much pain…what the hell…did I feel…'sorry' for Koizumi?

Oh god…

We both looked back out towards the river with a heavy and awkward atmosphere now settling in…

I want to go home now.

I then had a thought "Hey Koizumi…it's so cold, how 'bouts we go to the library?" I looked towards him expectantly...its better than being out in the cold…and I probably won't have Koizumi invading my personal space bubble.

He gave a smile…however it seemed like a really sad version of his normal one… as if he was regretting deeply what he just said. "Sure." He replied before slowly standing up and looking at me "Let's go…Kyon."

Yep, as I suspected, I REALLY didn't like him saying my name like that… it gave me the creeps…But regardless…I had to ignore his weird way of saying my name and stand up…

…crap, now my legs are numb from sitting on such a cold bench... and I have to spend the majority of this day with a depressed Koizumi. This day couldn't get any better could it?

* * *

><p>Woo! Another chapter done! xD This is a really fun story to write but it's hard to get the characterisations of Kyon and Koizumi right . (wow... i just did a ryhme! xD) I hope I did okay ^o^ PLease review with any ideas etc etc xD<p>

I dunno why, but depressed Koizumi amuses me xD


	3. Extortion

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 3**

After an awkwardly silent walk, we eventually arrived at the library…and it was only till we were at the doors that I realised that this was where I went with Nagato…great, so now I'm sub-consciously mirroring my actions from the last search for 'mysterious beings.'

Also, similar to Nagato, Koizumi spent the whole walk looking straight ahead with a depressed look on his face… (…apart from Nagato only ever had a polka-face on) and I realised (horribly) that I actually preferred the normal irritatingly smiley Koizumi rather than this weird one. Was it because I brought up his past-life?

…is this my fault…?

… There must be something seriously wrong with me today.

Anyway, we walked into the library before looking around, slightly lost about where to go. However, it wasn't long before Koizumi silently walked over to some random bookshelf and took a book. He then went to a sofa and sat down…just like Nagato.

…well this is awkward.

I quickly decided that rather than standing there like an idiot staring at him, to take a book and also sit down. So I walked over to another bookshelf and randomly took a thick novel before walking over to the same sofa that Koizumi was sitting on then collapsing onto it.

The sofa was really nice (and it gave my legs a break) but it was really awkward with depressed Koizumi being right beside me, silently violating my personal space bubble. I quickly looked around. Damn, this is the only sofa that isn't taken by other bored people.

Stupid bored people, why don't they go somewhere else?

I then looked towards Koizumi…his eyes weren't focused on the book…just some space behind it… I felt like I should say something… "Hey, Koizumi?"

He flinched suddenly before looking at me; his eyes wide open in shock "Y-yes? W-what is it?"

What was with that reaction?

"…are you okay?" I asked even though I was hitting myself over the reaction he gave.

He gave a weak smile "I'm perfectly fine, Kyon." He then turned back to his book that he was apparently 'reading'.

Liar.

And also, there you go again, devouring and savouring my name as you speak it in a sentence unnecessarily.

I sighed quietly before also once again turning back to my book... however after about 10 minutes I found myself fighting against upcoming attacks of drowsiness… well, I guess it is hard to read a book that you really don't want to…

I figured that I may as well as close my eyes for a little while… I mean, I'm sure Koizumi will wake me up soon…I'm pretty sure…

I woke up to feel an odd warmth on my shoulder and also a vibration in the pocket of my jeans. Wearily and still tired I took out my mobile from my pocket and help the receiver to my ear.

"…good morning…"

I heard a screaming voice on the other end "WHAT DO YOU MEAN GOOD MORNING?" I held the receiver away from my ear slightly before the voice on the other side burst my eardrums…I looked quickly at the caller ID…Haruhi Suzumiya….figures… "DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE SLEEPING IN THE LIBRARY AGAIN!"

"…I was sleeping in the library…." I wearily replied, still currently not aware of my surroundings…I must have really slept…

"WHAT? YOU LAZY BUM!"

You're the last person I want calling me lazy.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" Haruhi continued screaming at me.

I hesitated for a second but even that was enough time for Haruhi to butt in.

"LOOK COME STRAIGHT TO THE STATION RIGHT NOW! WITHIN 20 SECONDS!" She then hung up on me.

Don't ask for the impossible.

I quickly looked at the time on my phone … 3:30… I think we were meeting at 3:00? …wait…. Does this mean I've been sleeping for 3 hours? And Koizumi didn't wake me up? That depressed idiot!

I then became aware of warmth resting on my shoulder; I looked down to see what it was…

…It was Koizumi sleeping on me.

I jumped up, causing him to fall on the sofa, waking him up. "GAH! YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU-" I suddenly became aware of many people staring at us, giving us death glares/ confused looks. I remembered that we were still in a library and I quickly lowered my voice "-What are you doing?"

Koizumi slowly sat up, shocked as to his 'rude' awakening. "Uh…Oh Kyon… What is it…?" He quickly regained his normal smile and stared at me.

Crap, he's pissing me off.

I pointed to the clock on the wall in the library "Look at the time!" I yelled somehow without raising my voice.

Koizumi's eyes widened. "Wait, so Suzumiya-san…?" He began but I cut him off with a nod before grabbing his hand and running out of there.

As we were running I yelled at him "Why didn't you wake me up? …No…More to the point….WHY WERE YOU SLEEPING ON ME?"

I let go of his hand and he quickly gained speed, running beside me…was he…blushing? "Oh…well if you couldn't tell earlier I was tired…" Liar. You were depressed. "And I guess I fell asleep on top of you by accident…" He shrugged, giving me his annoying smile "I apologise if I caused you any offence."

Offence? No, the problem is you're the last person I want sleeping on me…if it was Asahina-san I wouldn't have minded though…I think I probably would have died and gone to heaven instead…

We eventually arrived at the train station in about 5 minutes of running. Tired, hot and out of breath we jogged over to a fuming Haruhi and prepared for the 'punishment.'

She ran over to us and hit me over the back of the head…she didn't do anything to Koizumi however… "YOU IDIOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LATE YOU ARE!"

I thought for a second, rubbing the back of my aching head "Um… 35 minutes?"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!"

Make up your mind.

She pointed rather violently to the café. "WE'RE GOING TO THE CAFÉ!" She then grabbed me by the collar and looked at me, several centimetres away from my face…what is this? Extortion? Bullying? "And you're paying."

We eventually finished the meal in the café which I somehow just managed to pay for (with no help from the idiot Koizumi, may I add) and we all parted ways at the station.

I turned around to the street where I normally park my bike on however as I went over to where it should have been…there was just a sign reading 'Your illegally parked bicycle has been confiscated.'

What again? Come on people, this joke is getting seriously old.

Pissed off, I gritted my teeth from the cold and turned in the direction that I had to walk home… at this rate it will take me… what, and hour? And even if I'm walking fast.

The world really seems to hate me.

I eventually arrived at my doorstep however, when I was greeted by my sister, she ran over to me holding Shamisen (the cat) but just then, I had a sudden wave of dizziness…and everything went black.

All I could hear was my sister's high pitched voice screaming "MUM! MUM! KYON-KUNS DEAD!"

I gritted my teeth again as I heard her say this "I told you before…call me by…my real…name…" Then I couldn't hear anything.

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><p>DUN DUN DUN~! Lol, sorry xD What's wrong with Kyon? Is he dead? (no he isn't, but I want to give dramatic writing a go xD) In the next chapter, will there be yaoi, which there has been a severe lack of in the other chapters? (Yes, probably xD)<p>

Anyway, please review, and look forward to the next chapter! xD

Elzah-Chan


	4. Illness

**Chapter 4**

It turns out actually, that I had a serious fever…probably from walking home in such cold weather my mum said, and so, I got to stay home from school.

See you Haruhi.

I felt my forehead as I lied down in my bed…geez I was cold! I wrapped myself more in the covers on my bed and covered my head. Stupid Haruhi…this was all her fault. Did she wish for me to become sick because I was so late yesterday? If so, Thanks Haruhi, Thanks a frikkin' bunch. I wonder if Koizumi was also sick…

…However I just wanted to sleep so I slowly closed my eyes and did just that.

I awoke slowly and flinched slightly at the sudden wave of nausea that I felt. Guh… this really sucks… I suddenly became aware of someone breathing on my face… it must be my sister… I muttered "…what are you doing you idiot?"

The person responded "Well, I'm checking up on you to see whether you are okay, Kyon." Wait…that wasn't my sister's voice…

My eyes snapped open to see Koizumi standing over me, violating my personal space and smiling his always plastic smile. "Good morning!" He chirped.

"WHAT ARE YOU-"I sat up suddenly but hit heads with Koizumi who was standing over me, there was a sickening noise as we collided. I fell backward onto my bed, hugging my head with my arms in a desperate attempt to relive myself of the pain "Gah…. What….are you…doing here….?"

Koizumi had also fallen backward to the side of the bed…he seemed to have bitten his tongue… "Das I daid…Dim dere do deck up don you Kyon…"

Wow, it's only now that I've just realised how much he creeps me out. "…why?"

He rubbed his mouth slightly before grinning at me…but it wasn't like his usual smiles…it seemed more…evil… I felt my knees move closer to my body…was I …scared? "Because, Suzumiya-san is on clean-up duty so it was down to me to visit and check up on you…and that way we'll be all alone…. Kyon…"

WHAT THE HELL!

He slowly leaned forwards towards me and as I tried to stand up to get the heck out of there, I suddenly felt dizzy because of my fever.

DAMMIT!

I just realised at that point just how badly I wanted him to revert to the normal Koizumi and just smile at me and say "I merely jest." I mean, hell, that pissed me off, but I really didn't like the look in his eyes.

I felt his arms pin down mine on my bed. "Oh Kyon, Don't try running off now…we're going to have so much fun…" He grinned evilly at me, his eyes narrowed.

I could feel beads of sweat on my forehead…crap; I'm scared of this Koizumi… "C-cut it out Koizumi…. It's not funny…!" I tried to resist but I was too weak and he was too strong.

He pinned down my arms harder; I winced in pain "But Kyon? I thought you wanted to see the true side of me?"

Wait…so this is how he's truly like?

My internal monologue was suddenly cut off by Koizumi pressing his lips onto mine.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?

My eyes firmly shut, in some desperate attempt to close him out, I could feel his tongue pressing on my tightly clenched teeth. There's no way in hell I'm letting that …thing into my mouth!

Koizumi pulled away, with an overly pouty disappointed face. I was so shocked I couldn't bring myself to say anything "Oh Kyon…that's no good…" He then returned to the evil grin "But then this wouldn't be as fun if it was that easy…"

I forced myself to speak, trying to remain calm… it wasn't working. "Koizumi! What's…wrong with you? Please, stop!" But he cut me off as he threw his hand onto my throat, causing me to gasp and open my mouth in pain and shock. HEY! THIS ISN'T FAIR!

He then once again pushed his lips onto mine and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I opened my eyes wide in shock, and I could also feel tears in them…why was I crying? It… must be the pain that my throat was in…

He pulled away smiling "See now, that wasn't so bad Kyon-"He broke off half-way as he looked at me, his eyes wide.

He saw that I was crying.

I felt like an absolute idiot with tears streaming down my face. Why the hell, was I crying in front of this idiot Koizumi…? …well… it's probably because he just 'violated' me through my mouth, which was not (may I add), a pleasant experience… or was it something else?

No. It definitely wasn't.

I sniffed "…what the hell…am I doing…? ...No… what are you doing…you idiot…?" I was blushing bright scarlet and also gagging from him grabbing my throat like that.

Koizumi's eyes widened further until his pupils were just little dots. "What…have I done…?" He put both of his arms on his head before he collapsed onto his knees, onto the floor. He rolled up into a little ball and started sobbing "I'm sorry…. I'm so….so… sorry…." And he kept repeating that.

…okay….?

I couldn't help but stare at this helpless Koizumi… I knew I should've been doing something but I was distracted by thoughts… have I ever seen Koizumi look so defenceless and helpless? He looked… pathetic…

As he rolled up tighter in his little ball I couldn't take it anymore. I fought back the feelings of dizziness and sickness and knelt beside him on the floor.

"Hey, Koizumi?" I saw him flinch in his little ball…he seemed…afraid…? "Didn't you come to help me feel better you idiot? I'm the one who's sick here and whatever you just did, I'm sure there's a good explanation for it…"

I didn't really believe what I just said but as Koizumi slowly turned to look at me, I found myself smiling at him like a fool.

I saw his eyes fill up even more with tears and then he suddenly threw himself onto me and hugged me tightly.

"Woah! Hey, you idiot what are you doing?" I tried yelling at him, but even as I did so he just hugged me even tighter.

"….thank you …Kyon…" He whispered into my shoulder as he continued to hug me tighter, I could feel drops of moistness on my shoulder.

Crap, am I blushing!

And hey, why are you saying my name like that again?

I sighed wearily. So much as for him coming to help me while I was sick.

But regardless I then patted him gently on the head. "Sure, no problem…" He squeezed me tighter "H-hey, any tighter and you're going to kill me!" I laughed nervously.

What the heck has happened to me?

After about 10 minutes Koizumi eventually calmed down and I lied down in my bed again, with him sitting on the side. He had his head down, shamefully.

Wow. This is awkward.

I looked up at the ceiling "…so Koizumi… what was that all about then?" I looked up slightly to see his reaction.

He twitched slightly. "W…well, after our conversation on Sunday on the search for Mysterious beings I went home and thought about it for a while…" I furrowed my eyebrows together slightly in thought. Great, now I feel as if Koizumi's sudden …'advances' are my fault. He continued "And suddenly… I just had the urge to show you what I was truly like…but…"

I interrupted… I think I kinda get it now... "But you hadn't acted in your true personality for such a long time that you had forgotten what it was like?"

Koizumi froze for about 3 seconds before hesitantly nodding. "Y…yes that exactly… I have been so used to acting how I currently act that I… wasn't used to reverting back …so when I did it was a bit… let's just say…explosive?" He smiled weakly at me.

Jekyll and Hyde anyone?

Regardless, the way he just said that wasn't very convincing. Also the way he acted was very… hesitant... I suddenly had to cut off my mental monologue as I felt someone's hand on my forehead.

Gah! The creeps at it again!

I blushed bright red again and shook my head to get his hand off "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Koizumi quickly took his hand back, a concerned smile crossed his face "I'm doing what I came here to do… checking up on you Kyon! …but gee, are you burning up!" He shook his hand jokingly and he smiled his usual smile at me… but it wasn't like his normal ones…he seemed… genuinely happy…but still, his smile pissed me off so much, I just wanted to draw all over it.

"O…okay…" Embarrassed I coated my head under my duvet…why am I blushing again? Oh, and it seems like he's completely forgotten about his close encounter earlier…that was the ultimate violation of my personal space that there ever has been in a violation of personal space records collection.

…I should really stop thinking so much to myself…

I looked back up from under the covers to see Koizumi thinking to himself. He appeared to be stroking his chin in thought.

Weirdo.

He then seemed to have a revelation and stood up "Wait here for just a second Kyon!" He then quickly walked out of my room.

Maybe I should run for it now.

I then realised that I couldn't even if I tried because I'd probably end up fainting… and I then gritted my teeth as I realised he said my name un-necessarily again.

But before I could run out, Koizumi had once again returned wielding a bag… of ice? …and two cups of tea…

"You've got a fever, haven't you?" I nodded warily "So put this bag of ice on your forehead to cool you down!" He smiled an oddly sweet smile…and I can't believe I just thought what I just thought.

He came over to me and carefully placed it on my head and handed me the tea.

He was right… I guess having something cool on my head did feel better…

"T…thanks Koizumi…." I found myself muttering…and… blushing? Again?

Koizumi smiled at me before he sat down once again and appeared to also once again be deep in thought… he then said something that I never expected him to say.

"Kyon?"

I looked up at him from my bed, taking a sip from my tea, whilst realising that it sucked when compared to Asahina-san's "…What is it?" I was hoping he wouldn't say something weird…

"Can you…" Koizumi looked hesitantly to the side for a second before suddenly looking once again determined and continuing to speak. "Can you call me Itsuki?"

I almost spat out all of the tea that was in my mouth.

"W-WHAT?" I muttered, with my hand over my mouth in order to stop the tea from going all over my covers.

Koizumi suddenly looked melancholy, which kinda shocked me "…please…" he begged…and looked down on his lap.

I took another sip from my tea, creeped out but deep in thought… why did he want me to call him by his first name so badly? Isn't that only what 'close' people do? Oh, But wait…I call Haruhi also by her first name… and I'm not that close to her… I may as well as give it a go…

Wow, I have crappy reasoning.

"O…okay… I-Itsuki…" I found myself stuttering over the name… Man, it feels weird and creepy calling him that.

Koizumi's eyes once again lit up, and he smiled possibly one of the happiest smiles I've ever seen him smile. "Thank you, Kyon!"

AND STOP SAYING MY NAME SO UNNESSARILY!

* * *

><p>EDIT: I'm not very happy with this chapter, and I know it seems really unnecessary... i kinda think so too. But, the next chapters are much better. I promise. XD This one just went a bit weird... So, please, don't let this chapter put you off .' The rest of the story is better as I'm improving :D<p>

Many thanks for putting up with me .

Elzah-Chan 3


	5. Confused

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 5**

Eventually Koizumi- I mean… Itsuki left (geez now I'm calling him that in my mind now?) And after a good night's sleep I found myself once again in the classroom in front of Haruhi.

I felt a pen prod me in the back when I sat down. "Hey. Because I had clean-up duty I couldn't check up on you and make you do extra work for payback for not coming to the brigade meeting."

Oh, what a shame.

"Yeah?" I found myself speaking to her "Well, Itsu- I mean, Koizumi came by to check up on me. Sorry to spoil your fun."

I couldn't bring myself to call him by his name in front of Haruhi due to fear of the consequences.

Haruhi prodded me once again, harder this time in the back "Good! That's what I'd expect of my deputy brigade leader!" She grabbed my shoulder and turned me around "Did he work you to the bone? Did you do any manual labour for him?"

Feeling like my life was in danger I smiled and nodded "Y-yeah… I guess…"

… Manual labour, huh? …I don't think that's actually far from the truth…

I shuddered mentally after thinking such a horrible thought. The fever I had really must have affected me.

Haruhi gave an evil looking grin. "Well, you better be at the brigade meeting today then! You still have a debt to me!" She poked me once again in my forehead before twirling me around again and continuing to write some random crap into her notebook.

How annoying…

After the day of painfully boring classes ended, both Haruhi and myself headed over to the brigade room, where Asahina-san already was, wearing her adorable maid outfit. Her eyes lit up as I came into the room but they quickly fell as they saw Haruhi. "I-I'll prepare the tea…" She smiled nervously before heading over to the kettle.

Ah, she's all I need to be my mental balm and stress-reliever.

Nagato was also there, silently reading her book, with her grey bangs covering the side of her face motionless… she really is just like a piece of the scenery in here…

And I then looked towards the table to see Itsuki there, I flinched…and I wasn't very sure why but I found myself blushing. He looked very… melancholy. (What? Again?)

Good grief…

I then had Haruhi jump in front of me "You're squinting and blushing." She was shooting daggers at me… I think she thought I was looking at Asahina-san…

Well, even If I was, isn't it natural to squint at the pure beauty of Asahina-san in a maid outfit?

…I suppose that's better than her knowing I was looking at Itsuki instead…who knows what would happen then?

I suddenly realised that if I didn't respond soon I would have Haruhi dangling me by my legs out the clubroom window threatening to drop me.

"Am I really?" I chose to ignore looking at her face and went to sit down, throwing my bag onto the back of my seat as I went. I sat opposite Itsuki, who still kept his head down looking depressed.

So much as for the mysterious constantly happy transfer student, huh?

Haruhi stomped around me muttering some words about 'perverts' and 'idiots' under her breath and threw herself onto the seat in front of the computer, cross-legged, her mouth in a upside down 'v' shape. She quickly turned it on using one of her fingers rather violently and sat there waiting for it to warm up, scrolling the mouse aggressively.

Great, so now she's also in a bad mood.

I turned away from her weird aura and faced Itsuki (wow, it really feels weird calling him that.) Asahina-san was pouring tea, Nagato was just reading and Haruhi was sitting there pouting…so it was pretty awkward and quiet…I felt as though I had to break the silence.

"Hey Itsuki, wanna play a game of Othello?" Itsuki instantly looked up at the sound of his name, eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He…also had a faint flush across his cheeks.

Oh god…

He seemed to be at a loss for words at me actually calling him Itsuki "U...um…y-yeah s…sure...!" A small smile gradually grew across his face as he spoke and by the time he had finished a genuine smile had been plastered across his idiotic face.

I blushed.

Why did I blush?

"O…okay…?" I nervously responded as I quickly turned my head to the shelf behind me with the Othello board on.

There's no way in hell I'm letting him see my face…why was that face so…well…cute?

However as I stood up, I felt someone rather violently grab my arm. What the heck?

I looked down to see where the pull came from to see Haruhi, with her hair covering her eyes and her head facing the floor.

She tightened her grip on my arm "Kyon. When did you start calling Koizumi-kun by his first name?" I felt her pull me a bit when she said Itsuki's name.

I felt my gut drop.

At a loss for words, I had to quickly think up an excuse. I mean, I couldn't just say, 'Well Haruhi, when I was ill, Itsuki came to visit me where he quickly forced himself onto me, made out with me (against my will may I add) before going into a little ball and crying and begging me to call him by my real name. And so, I decided to call him by his first name.' (Insert beaming smiley face here.)

I had a feeling that the world would inevitably be destroyed if I said that.

I looked nervously behind Haruhi to the others for assistance. Nagato was staring at me… but in such a wary way that you could only realise if you really paid good attention to her face movements. Asahina-san was frozen in pure fear, still pouring tea into the already full tea-cup (so it was going all over the tray) and Itsuki…looked… terrified…

I felt Haruhi pull my arm again, apart from more violently "ANSWER YOUR BRIGADE LEADER!" She shouted. Her hair was still covering her eyes.

"Um…well, I-Itsuki's a good friend of mine, y'know… I mean, I also call you by your first name…" I responded, trying to stay calm around this odd Haruhi. "I think you're over-reacting slightly…." …why did I say that?

I felt Haruhi freeze for a moment, before she started trembling. She suddenly looked up at me "IM NOT!" Her eyes were like that of a child, who had just seen their most precious toy get destroyed in front of them mercilessly… she pulled me closer "You're the only one who…the only one…who can…" She looked at me, and for once… she seemed like she couldn't say what she wanted…

"Hey, Haruhi, calm down please, I mean, I call other people by their first names too…" I tried to begin but she cut me off.

"NOT IN THE SOS BRIGADE!" She screamed at me before her eyes darkened once more. "Whatever, I'm going home." She muttered before walking straight out of the club-room, bag in tow.

…I suddenly got the feeling that I had unleashed something horrible.

But…why did she react as selfishly as she did? I mean, screaming at me for something like that is a little unfair on me and Itsuki too you know-

As I thought of Itsuki I turned to him.

His eyes were wide and he was frozen in what only seemed like pure fear. Staring at the door which had now closed.

His phone then vibrated making him flinch. He looked around at us before looking reluctantly at his phone. "E…excuse me, I believe I need to take this call…" He then picked up his bag and quickly left…

Well, this is irritating.

Desperate for answers I turned to Nagato. She was already standing directly behind me so she made me jump slightly. She looked up at me with her beautifully dark emotionless eyes and begun to speak.

"Haruhi Suzumiya is extremely displeased." Yeah, I kinda got that. "So displeased that a huge closed space has appeared which is rapidly increasing…soon to engulf all of the earth."

Oh joy.

As I continued to stare at her, jaw wide open, she continued. "Itsuki Koizumi is currently trying to stabilize the situation… however the ratio of 'celestials' to Itsuki Koizumi is so great that if he doesn't leave the space his death with be definite."

I flinched "What? But… why has this even happened?" I asked her, suddenly deeply concerned for the stupid espers health.

Nagato remained silent for a moment. She seemed to be thinking about whether or not it would be okay for her to explain, before blinking and once again looking up at me "Haruhi Suzumiya is concerned as to the reasoning of why you are calling Itsuki Koizumi by his real name. In her eyes, she believes that she is the only person in the SOS brigade that can be referred to by their first name without the use of a honorific. She believes it to be ….'special.' And since you have begun calling Itsuki Koizumi by his first name, without the use of a honorific, without reasoning valid to her data-input, she now believes that the fact that you address her by her first name, without the use of a honorific, is for no 'special' reason and does not necessarily mean anything."

"…huh?" That's all I could spit out. Wow, trust Haruhi to attempt to destroy the universe just because she doesn't get her way… but…. 'special' …huh? I don't think I ever called her by her first name for a special reason… it was mainly an attempt to get her to listen to me (without success) when I first met her… and I guess the habit kinda stuck with me…

…but…why didn't I refuse to call Itsuki by his first name?

I shook my head quickly. No, the only reason I'm calling him by his first name is the fact that if I don't, I feel like he might start to cry… yeah. That was what I told myself not very convincingly, but… was I doubting myself?

I shook my head again once more, trying to get rid of my stupid internal monologue. First things first, saving the universe from Haruhi's selfishness… I'm sure Itsuki would be fine.

"Right, I'm off to get Haruhi, and hopefully reason with her…" I muttered not very enthusiastically.

Nagato gave a nod so small that you had to be looking really closely to notice it. "Okay… Good luck." She then turned around and headed back to her book. She… seemed like she wanted to say something else… I didn't think about it anymore though.

As I turned to walk out I heard Asahina-sans adorable voice speak out "Um, Kyon-kun?" I turned around to see Asahina-san standing there, a small concerned look upon her adorable face. "What about Koizumi-kun?" She tilted her head slightly, looking for an answer.

I froze for a moment before responding. "I-I'm sure he'll be fine… he's dealt with this stuff before…right?" I gave a weak laugh.

Asahina-sans face fell before she sighed "Y…yes, I suppose so…" She too turned around, heading back over to the kettle and facing the 3 cups of tea that would now be wasted. "H…have a safe trip…"

Confused slightly at Asahina-san's reaction, I quickly once again turned around, picked up my bag and walked out.

"See ya…"

I tried to say it with confidence…. but…. I couldn't fight the feeling that I was doing something wrong…

* * *

><p>Whew! This chapter took me a while to write when I wrote it xD It's hard to write like Yuki, you have to try and make everything sound so much more complicated than what it actually is... I hope I portrayed her character well ^o^<p>

And hey, you can't ever have a Haruhi story without the universe being at risk at somepoint! xD Anyway, I hope your enjoying the story so far, please review, and look forward to the next chapter! (Which im now writing w)


	6. Dangerous

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 6**

I walked quickly and purposefully out of the school, in the direction of Haruhi's house. I had been to her house several times so I had a pretty good idea of how to get there, so it wasn't long before I found myself standing on the doorstep of her house.

Well, this is going to be fun.

I hesitantly knocked on the door before quickly placing my hand down by my side, gripping the side of my blazer slightly… I briefly asked myself why I was nervous before remembering and telling myself that currently, the fate of the universe relied on what I said to this girl right now.

Why does this always fall upon my shoulders?

I suddenly had to stop thinking as the door slowly opened, and Haruhi was standing there, a look of shock plastered across her face.

This was quickly replaced by a look of anger and an attempt to slam the door shut, which I prevented by slotting my foot in-between the gap of the door and the wall.

My foot was crushed between the two with a sickening crash. "HEY! OUCH!" I shouted, hell that hurt!

This only seemed to infuriate Haruhi more as her brow furrowed and she gritted her teeth as she continually attempted to slam the door shut. Without success.

She started shouting "MOVE YOUR GODDAMN FOOT! IDIOT KYON!"

"NO! STOP! HARUHI!" My foot was in such excruciating pain that I couldn't move it anyway.

She stopped almost immediately upon hearing her name. She seemed to press down her feelings slightly and held her head down. "What do you want now?" Her voice was low. Dangerous.

I gotta watch what I say now.

"Haruhi, I'm really sorry about calling Itsu-… Koizumi by his first name… I didn't mean it meant that much to you…" I saw her flinch slightly when I said that... crap… "And uh… I only started calling him by that name in a friendly way… nothing more. I'll call him Koizumi again though anyway, because it feels weird calling him Itsuki anyway…"

What a lie. Well…. About the friendly part anyway…

Hoping that would be enough, I looked at her, hoping for a reaction. She looked up at me… an evil grin plastered across her stupid face instead.

Oh god.

She crossed her arms and huffed out a breath "Good! I mean, I humbly allowed you to call me by my first name because I took pity on you, being my servant in my brigade. And Koizumi-kun, my deputy should not be reduced to your 'level' and be allowed to be addressed by his first name!"

The fact she reverted back so quickly pissed me off. She's like a halfway boss that keeps casting self-healing spells on itself.

My eye twitched in anger and confusion as she finished her 'explanation' to attempting to destroy the world.

She then went into an over-dramatic thinking pose. "Hm… I wonder what Koizumi-kun's doing now anyway, he looked ill at the meeting… I can't have my deputy brigade chief being sick…"

Koizumi.

At the mention of his name, I suddenly felt ill… I wonder if he's okay…? I mean, sure, he's annoying, always invades my personal space and is always smiling but… even though he's an esper… he's not literally invincible like Nagato… he's still human…

…wait why am I thinking about him like that?

And before I knew what I was doing, I was running back in the direction of the school.

I could hear Haruhi shouting behind me "Hey Kyon! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU GOING?"

All I could do was shout over my shoulder "I forgot to do something!"

What that something was… I had no frikkin' idea, all I knew was… I needed to see Itsuki… to see if he is alright. And I still wasn't sure why…

What the heck is up with me?

I ran into the clubroom to see (unsurprisingly) Nagato sitting there, reading her book becoming one with the clubroom. I bent over panting and briefly looked around the clubroom. Asahina-san wasn't here so she must have gone home after we left… which I could understand because it would be awkward being alone with Nagato when you're as bad as starting a conversation as Asahina-san.

Upon hearing me enter the room, Nagato looked up slowly and stared at me. I panted a bit more, desperately trying to get oxygen into my starved lungs before gasping to Nagato "…hah… N…Nagato, c-can you… take me into closed spaces…?"

What the hell was I saying? But then again, at this point of time worry had completely overcome my sense of reason.

Nagato stared at me for about the time it takes to blink twice before slowly standing up and nodding. "I have the ability to open access to closed data spaces similar to that of an esper; however, I have no ability to enter the specified area."

…and what does that mean to me….?

She must have noticed how confused I looked at that point of time so she continued; she seemed to be trying to make what she said simpler. "Although I can help you to access the area, I cannot enter it with you… You will be on your own."

"Oh…" Well, that rained on my parade a little bit…but still…! "Take me in there anyway!"

Nagato stared at me, and to my astonishment, what seemed to look like concern creased her eyes ever so slightly, so slightly that you had to be staring extremely hard to notice the facial movement.

"…okay… Follow me."

She then walked straight past me, out of the classroom after placing her book on the clubroom table. I followed suit.

We walked down a couple of corridors in an awkward silence which I was actually used to when it comes to Nagato, before we eventually ended up outside the school on the running track. Because it was winter, none of the clubs were running outside so it was pretty much empty.

She then, (after giving a quick glance to me, asking for affirmation to what she was about to do, as to which I gave a nervous nod.) stuck her arm out, her fingers on her hand spread and started muttering words at such a speed that I couldn't hear or understand a word she was saying… I doubted she was even speaking in any human language…

I should be getting used to this by now…

She then, after apparently 'finishing' her recital, once again robotically moved her arm down to her side before turning to me.

"Walk over to there with your eyes closed." She pointed slowly to the middle of the running track, past where she had raised her hand. She then placed her arm once again by her side and continued to look at me.

I spoke, breaking the silence "So… I just have to walk over there with my eyes closed and I end up in the closed space?"

She blinked once "Yes. It is necessary for you to close your eyes due to the high levels of un-natural data, which could unless you are a humanoid interface or an esper, cause you harm."

I begun "What do you mean because of the data levels-" I stopped myself "…Never mind." I figured that because this was Nagato here, I would either end up being ignored or given such an explanation that it would leave me even more confused than what I was in the first place.

Nagato continued to stare at me before giving a tiny nod "Okay… Good Luck." She spoke it in a monotone voice, but hearing that coming from Nagato made me worry slightly…

I nodded back before closing my eyes, and then wobbling forwards…. It's actually surprising how hard it is to walk in a straight line with your eyes closed.

I then heard Nagato speak once again "Be careful."

I opened my eyes to look at her but then noticed how the world was now a blue/grey hue. I turned to face the school, which was now also grey… and deprived of any movement and life. I placed my hands upon where I…apparently entered. As usual, there seemed to be an invisible wall there, stopping me from going any further.

So, Nagato's on the other side of this wall huh?

I briefly wondered what she was doing but I then realised how she was probably just staring at the area where I entered, regardless of how weird she looked to the general public.

I turned around, almost pivoting on the spot. Right... time to find Itsuki.

I doubted it would take very long as I presumed he would probably be nearby some huge blue giant and just as I thought that, I heard a deafening smashing sound… like the building was being torn apart.

Alarmed and shocked I ran into the school building, he had to be inside….! I ran up a few corridors before I found myself in the same corridor where the SOS brigade clubroom (well…. The literary clubroom… except Haruhi just stuck a paper sign onto the original sign and left a note on the door saying 'We've been here half a year now! You can't take this away from us!')

I looked around the corridor before I suddenly noticed a person sitting down lying on the side of the wall, clasping his stomach.

…he had long light brown hair, with bangs that covered his eyes slightly and he was wearing my school uniform. As he looked up to see who it was who had entered, there was a look of surprise, which then transformed into a very weak version of his plastic smile.

There's no way I could mistake that stupid smile.

"ITSUKI!"

* * *

><p>Sorry about the weird ending to this chapter . I couldnt think of any other way for it to end xD Sorry if Haruhi or Kyon was a bit out of character but it's hard to write as them o-o And i've got a ton of exams coming up soon so I probably won't have any time to write any more for a while XD but...please review, favourite etc etc... your comments REALLLY make me happy ^o^<p>

see you in the next chapter~! XD

Elzah-Chan


	7. Helpless

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD**

**Chapter 7**

As I ran over to Itsuki's slumped over body my mind raced with thoughts… why is he on the floor like that…? Is he hurt…? …Why am I running over to him like I actually care about him or something?

Unfortunately, impulse had overcome reason at that point and after a quick sprint I collapsed to my knees by Itsuki's side.

Itsuki gave a weak smile "Ah, Kyon… fancy meeting you here… may I ask h-how you got in here in the first place..?" He stuttered slightly as he spoke, wincing clearly at the pain that he was obviously in. He hissed quietly, as he moved slightly, trying to lean more comfortably against the wall.

The fact he could smile like this in a situation such as this one pissed me off "Nagato let me in. Anyway, you idiot move your arm!" I asked, trying to keep my voice level, however towards the end I started to raise my voice as I saw a flash of blood from under his arm, around where his stomach was.

He shook his head weakly with a smile but I ignored him as I firmly (but still gently…. Okay… Kinda.) Moved his arm to the side… he tried to resist me but he seemed so weak, I moved his arm with only a little strength.

My eyes widened at the huge red, gaping wound around his stomach, which cut through his school blazer and shirt. I immediately wanted to look away upon seeing it… but yet I continued to stare. It looked hideously painful, I mean, if it was Nagato or something, that would be another case (I mean, she could have laser-beams fired through her hand and spears stabbed through her body and still not even twitch at the feeling of pain…if she even felt pain…) But Koizumi, although he had freaky flying powers that could only be used in situations that didn't really make any sense, he was still… so human.

…A-anyway… how did he even get that cut from those blue giants? It's not like they have claws or anything… I think…

"Hey… Itsuki, how did you get… that..?" I pointed weakly to the cut.

Itsuki gave a weak laugh… one that died off in the end into coughing fits… "There was a larger amount of celestials than usual today… they were more aggressive too… and hence…" He looked down towards the cut, like he was trying to finish the sentence, but decided to go for a visual image instead of speaking it to me.

"…you idiot… "

I kept my head down as I muttered those words, causing Itsuki to look curiously up at me. "…didn't you… have any idea the danger you were in?" I raised my voice… damn I was pissed off.

Itsuki's eyes widened before they softened, a smile spread across his face. "Indeed… but, my colleagues were delayed so they can't enter this space until later…so the agency decided to send me in by myself…"

I felt angry…no scratch that, I was seriously seeing red. Why the hell would his agency, who got him to abandon his family, act like a completely different person and set him up with the task to be Haruhi's constant 'yes' man get him to enter here by himself, which could possibly result in his death? He deserved some respect in the least… even if he is as annoying as hell.

"Those bastards in the agency deserve to give you some respect in the least." I muttered under my breath.

Itsuki still, seemed to hear this; he spoke softly "Kyon, may I ask you to not refer to my agency in such a manner?" I lowered my head slightly upon hearing this "its okay. They provide me with a house, food and medical care… so I owe them my powers in the very least."

I looked up at him, I was seriously getting pissed. But when I looked at his smile… well… I guess I felt kinda better.

….kinda.

Itsuki suddenly erupted into coughing fits, dragging me and my internal monologue back to the problem at hand. Itsuki was seriously injured.

"We need to get you out of here." I said as I stood up, placing an arm under Itsuki's. I pulled myself up, along with him and was surprised to see how light he was… however when we only went about 5 feet in the space of 2 minutes, it dawned on me that this wasn't going to work.

…. There's only one thing for it….

"Itsuki. Get on my back." I spoke it firmly, keeping my head down.

I could see in the corner of my eye, Itsuki's eyes widening "Eh? But Kyon-"

I cut him off "Just shut up and get on my back. I can't stand the fact that a BIT of this closed space is my fault…so this is one of the only ways I can make it up to you."

Expecting him to get on, I crouched down slightly. He (seeing that there was no way for him to resist) gave a small smile before slowly climbing onto my back. I placed my arms under his legs as he hooked his arms onto my neck, nuzzling into the back of it slowly.

I could feel my cheeks heating up… I had to fight the urge to flip him off my back as I knew he was seriously injured… but regardless, the whole 'nuzzling' thing was unnecessary!

Stupid idiot esper…

As we were walking down the corridor (he was lighter than what I expected) Something suddenly struck me. "Hey, Itsuki?" I could feel him raise his head from my back "Where have the blue things gone?"

I felt Itsuki freeze for a moment on my back before he corrected me "A-ah, you mean the celestials… well since I was injured, I had to retreat…but my colleagues should be taking care of them now…"

I stopped before tilting my head back to him "Wait… what do you mean by should-"Suddenly as if by cue, I heard the corridor behind me smash, about where the clubroom was.

Great timing.

I turned around in a full circle, so both Itsuki and I could see what caused it.

…Like we really had to.

A huge glowing blue arm rose slowly from the debris that was where we just were as bits from the building it just destroyed fell from it. I looked out the window beside me to see a huge blue glowing light, which looked kinda like a see-though balloon filled with glowing blue jelly… I think it was the base of the blue giant's body. I squinted my eyes slightly at the bright light before snapping back to reality as I heard Itsuki shout

"Kyon! We need to get out of here! NOW!"

Wow, it's unlike you to shout.

Unfortunately, I had no time to be amused at Itsuki's sudden hissy fit as I found myself running down the stairs. Thank god you're light Itsuki; otherwise I wouldn't have hesitated at just dumping and leaving you there.

I continued running aimlessly down the corridor, feeling the smashing edging closer and closer as I presumed, the blue giant was following us.

I turned a corner as I felt Itsuki tighten his grip on me.

"We just NEED to get out of the building Kyon!"

Yeah, no duh.

I turned another corner, which led to another corridor… almost there now…

Suddenly I heard Itsuki yell "KYON STOP!"

I froze, skidding to a halt as my shoes slid across the polished wooden floor slightly. And suddenly, literally 5 feet away from where I stopped, another huge arm slammed down in front of me, sending splintering wood flying everywhere, as the blue giant destroyed the whole hallway, as if it was nothing but a house of cards. The next thing I knew, I was thrown against a wall with a body shielding me.

I looked up, confused... To see Itsuki's smiling face looking weakly at me, blood trickling down the side of his face. He suddenly collapsed onto my shoulder like a limp doll.

…is he dead…?

As I sat there shocked, staring helplessly at the area where the blue giant had just destroyed, its arm slowly rising from the debris, with Itsuki lying on my shoulder, I heard his voice. "Excuse me for leaning on you like this… I'm just…" He coughed before looking up at me "Not feeling so well…"

I looked him down from his head before I froze upon seeing his back…

He had bits of wood and glass going into it.

Words barely escaped from my mouth "Y… you…." I looked away from his back, I couldn't stand looking at a gruesome scene like that.

I stared at his face instead.

He smiled weakly again "Don't worry Kyon… I'm perfectly fine…"

You liar. You don't look fine at all.

One of my hands touched his hair… I wasn't sure why I did that… but I did it anyway. "You… idiot…!"

Why does everyone always sacrifice themselves for me? To save the world from a hormonal teenage girl who just so happens to almost destroy the universe whenever something (apparently) bad happens to me? First Nagato and now this stupid idiot!

"…why…? Do you always sacrifice yourself for me…?" I kept my head down, because I was seriously pissed off.

I felt a hand touch my face "Because… you're the key to Haruhi Suzumiya and her power…"

I shook my face away... at that moment I didn't care about how he just invaded my personal space bubble…but then again…should I really be surprised?

"Shut up… Shut up about me being the key to Haruhi! It's always about her and never… you…" I had finally snapped. "It's always you and the others sacrificing yourselves for her selfish hormonal temper-tantrums and you never think about your own safety or how… It will affect others…"

I broke off towards the end, embarrassed about my sudden outburst; I kept my head down… what the hell? This isn't like me to act like this?

I saw in the corner of my eye Itsuki's eyes widen in shock at my sudden outburst before they softened. "Well, I will admit that, that hasn't been my only reason for my course of actions…." I saw a pink flush go across his cheeks "I also… wish to protect you…"

…I was going to say something to Itsuki who was freaking me out like hell at that moment however when I opened my mouth I saw a familiar pink light fly between the gap in between the hall that the blue giant had created, it flew off faster than my eyes could follow it towards the direction of where I think the blue giant is.

Itsuki sighed "Oh… it appears that my colleagues have arrived…" …he seemed… disappointed…?

As he looked overhead, I decided I wasn't going to let what he just said slide easily.

"… Why do you want to protect me?" I was getting seriously suspicious. I didn't like the way this was going.

He looked up at me "…I-It is something that I don't believe I can quite explain in words…"

Wow. He just stuttered.

He seemed reluctant to continue but after everything that had happened, I was pissed off "Well? How can you show me it then?" I sighed, casting my head down "Geez, everything with you always has to be a chore." I looked up towards him "Why can't you just-"

I was suddenly cut off by Itsuki gently pressing his lips onto mine.

* * *

><p>FINALLY THIS CHAPTER IS DONE! I'm soooooooooo sorry this took so long DX *humbly bows and apologises* But, my exams are over so i SHOULD be uploading chapters more frequently :D<p>

I wonder how Kyon is going to react to Itsukis... advances ;D

Anyway, please review and stuff ^o^ They make me very happy! I will happily hand out virtual cookies to all of the luvvly people who review! w

See ya soon! Ja ne~!

Elzah-Chan

EDIT: Im sooooo sorry if you guys think i stole this from 'it's a romantic conquest, Haruhi-chan!' (which is an awesome story by the way xD) but this was not intentional and the story will become different in the next chapter I promise! I am aware that the chapter seems similar to the story but believe me, the story is completely different! (well, you'll see in particular in the next chapters)

I'm really sorry but i dont think i will have the time for a rewrite of this...but basically Kyon will have to confront Itsuki's fellow colleuges in the next chapter as he is in trouble over doing such a 'close action' to Haruhis 'key' ^-^''


	8. Denial

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD Oh! But I do own Ken Sugisaki in this story w I created him myself :D Sorry if you people don't like him DX ...he joins in this chapter :D**

**Chapter 8**

I almost immediately turned my head to the side. I could feel my face getting hot and all the blood rushing to it… was I embarrassed…?….no… I was angry like hell!

"What the hell do you think you're doing you idiot?" I shouted, trying to keep my face hidden, I didn't want him to see my face like this.

Itsuki sounded scared…. His voice was filled with regret "I'm …sorry… but I believed that it was the only course of action that I could take to show my… feelings."

Wait. Feelings? My mind re-winded to before he kissed me… let's see… what did I say…? '_Well? How can you show me then!" _So… Itsuki decided to …show me… how he feels about me… by kissing me.

…but that could only mean…

"I-Itsuki… you love me?" I could feel my face becoming extremely hot as I spoke but I felt like I had to look at him.

His eyes immediately widened upon hearing me say this before he looked down, using his long hair to hide his face. He whispered in a voice that only I could hear "…yes…"

And here comes the awkward atmosphere.

…so… Itsuki loves me… well… that explains all of the invasions of my personal space bubbles… but, why aren't I surprised or… angry? Gah! My stupid body won't react the way I want it to! Haruhi's idiocy must be infecting me too!

Suddenly I heard a new voice… an unfamiliar voice. "What was that you just said? Koizumi-kun?" It sounded harsh and unkind.

I could feel Itsuki flinch on my shoulder before he slowly pulled himself up. Turning to face the source of the voice reluctantly. I caught a brief glimpse of his eyes and he looked… well, terrified.

"S-Sugisaki….san…"

I turned to look at the source of the voice too. The man who stood there had long, almost shoulder length midnight black hair. His fringe covered one of his eyes, and the one that was revealed was… violet coloured? He wore a black uniform, like that of a different school with just a plain black long-sleeved top and black trousers. His eyes were narrowed… he didn't look happy.

I could feel myself flinch. Crap… even I'm scared of this guy now- WAIT! Did he see…? Itsuki kiss…oh god.

He spoke again, his voice sounding even harsher than it was before… "Koizumi-KUN, I asked you, what did you say to Suzumiya-san's key?" I noticed he put extra emphasis on the 'kun'… I'm guessing he's a higher ranking to Itsuki… hey wait! Why aren't I being embarrassed by this at-all! And I have a name too! It's-

"I said…" Itsuki spoke, interrupting my internal monologue. He looked down to the side. He obviously didn't want to finish his sentence.

Suddenly I felt a sharp force hit Itsuki. I looked to the side, slightly alarmed at the sudden movement, to see Itsuki on the floor. I looked up to see the black haired guy staring down at him, a sadistic smile was upon his face, and he was lowering his leg… I... think he just kicked him…?

"Well? Answer me Koizumi-Kun!" He kicked him again. What the hell is wrong with this guy?

Without thinking, I stood up… I was pissed off… for some reason… yep; I don't know what's happening to me either.

"HEY! STOP!" I went to push him away but the guy (whose reactions were a lot faster than mine) grabbed my arm. He twisted it behind my back.

That hurt dammit!

I heard Itsuki move "STOP IT!" He tried to get up but fell "Don't… hurt him…"

The sadistic guy however merely ignored Itsuki and continued to twist my arm… "I don't believe we have been properly acquainted… Kyon-kun."

I hissed quietly as he twisted my arm even more "Don't call me by that name… my name is-" He cut me off by pressing my arm to my back. Causing me to yell in pain

"Only respond to me when I ask you a question…" He whispered into my ear, sending horrible shivers down my spine. "My name, by the way, is Ken Sugisaki. However you should refer to me as Sugisaki-sama."

This guy pissed me off. Even more that Itsuki. And trust me, that's a lot.

"Why the hell should I do that-" I got cut off again by him twisting my arm once again, causing me to fall to the floor in submission.

He snickered "And I thought the key to Haruhi Suzumiya would be interesting. God, but what an eyesore you are to me. So plain. So boring." He released my arm, causing me to collapse to the floor.

He stood casually, seeming not to care about the both of us on the floor. He explained to me, his voice calm "I am Koizumi-kun's … well, I guess you could say his supervisor… or his boss." He smiled at me… but it freaked me out the way he did it.

He suddenly pretended to remember something, making an overly expressive 'oh yeah!' look. He turned around to Koizumi and approached him as if he was approaching a cat that you would find on the street.

"I almost forgot Koizumi-kun, you still haven't answered my question!" His voice suddenly dropped to a seriously dangerous low one. "What did you say to Haruhi Suzumiya's key?"

Can you please not refer to me like that?

I saw Itsuki lower his head. "I said I…. L…." His hair covered his face, but I could see he was blushing. Much to my annoyance.

Suddenly Sugisaki spoke, making us all jump, in a loud voice "Well? Hurry and spit it out!" It was obvious he was enjoying this. But for some weird reason… I decided not to intervene.

Itsuki suddenly looked up, making Sugisaki flinch backwards due to his sudden movement. He looked determined.

"I love Kyon." He spoke without any hint of hesitation or fear.

Gah! That idiot!

But I could feel my cheeks heating up so much they were almost burning. I just wanted to end my miserable life by hitting my head on a nearby wall or something.

I saw Sugisaki's eyes widen before he tilted his head to the side, similar to a little bird, before a seemingly harmless smile appeared on his face.

This guy is seriously bi-polar.

"Is that so…?" He asked, as to which Itsuki nodded cautiously.

Sugisaki took in a breath "So, now what do we do? You were sent to keep an eye on Haruhi Suzumiya and her key, under the circumstances that you don't get too close to them… but… you go ahead and fall in love with her key…" He stood up straight "Well… you were always replaceable anyway."

He suddenly kicked Itsuki around the face by doing a somewhat amazing spinning kick, before he went over to Itsuki's body and kicked him again in the ribs.

"I trusted you with this mission, and yet you go and blow it… what is wrong with you Koizumi-kun?"

I suddenly heard Itsuki cry out in pain as he kicked him in the stomach, where his wound was.

Then something switched within me.

I suddenly found myself running towards Sugisaki, who was so distracted by Itsuki that he didn't see me coming.

Oh, and for the note. I'm not an amazingly athletic person. I'm normal. So what I did next hurt me like hell too.

I punched Sugisaki in the face.

He recoiled from the sudden collision, giving a small yelp of surprise. My fist hurt like hell after the impact but I ran straight in front of Itsuki. Protecting him.

Now it's my turn to protect someone.

I heard Itsuki say a quiet "…Kyon…." But I chose to ignore his irritating wimper and focus on Sugisaki.

Sugisaki slowly stood up again. He was crouched over after the punch. And he stared at me. With a terrifying smile on his face.

"What's this Kyon-kun? Suddenly standing up for Koizumi-kun are we?" He spoke in a scarily soft tone.

That's it.

"I'm not going to stand there and let Itsuki get treated like crap after everything he has done for your miserable butt." And now I'm finally letting out what I bottled in all this time. Great. "I mean, he left his family behind to do what you wanted, and do you have any idea what this idiot's family means to him? And you also forced him to put on an act, to act in such a way to make Haruhi, who's stupid by the way, happy. But in doing so you forced him to seal up his emotions. And look at him! I mean, he nearly sacrifices his life every time he has to kill those weird blue giants! And yet, he has to work for a heartless, bi-polar, cruel and sadistic boss such as you."

I took in a deep breath afterwards, realising I had barely breathed through my little speech. I looked up at Sugisaki, who's eyes had widened considerably… before a mischievous look suddenly crossed his face.

"Wow. I must say I am surprised Kyon-kun. It must have taken a lot for you to have said that… but I am also curious Kyon-kun, about something else…" He was staring at me intently, making me unconsciously shiver.

"Who is Koizumi-kun to you?"

I could feel my eyes widen greatly, and as I did so, I could see the creepy glee on Sugisaki's face increase.

"I mean, I'm sure you've never said something like that about one of your friends have you? But then again, do you really know that much about Koizumi-kun…? Such as his real character and so on… and he constantly saves your life while you just sit back and take it, because you know there is nothing you can do. What kind of a friend are you? What kind of a person are you for doing that?"

I'd hate to admit it but he had a point. I barely know anything about Itsuki in real life. All I know is some base facts, and that stupid fake smile of his. And he was constantly saving me, but… instead of getting all pissed off about me being so useless… he always greeted me with a smile, he always offered to play games with me in the clubroom so I wasn't 'that' bored. He always explained stuff to me that I didn't understand. (But often he made me more confused than what I actually was.) Comparing him to the other members of Haruhi's stupid brigade… unlike Asahina-san he wasn't worried (or blocked) from revealing information, and he wasn't ever scared about talking to me. Unlike Nagato, he always smiled and never (usually) confused me. And unlike Haruhi, he never screamed at me or commanded me to do stuff. He always, let me be my own person and was always so …kind to me.

Even though he is a constantly smiling idiot who is always invading my personal space.

But on the other hand, if someone you barely knew, or even a classmate pointed at someone who you see almost everyday and asked you "Who is that person to you?" What would you say?

A classmate…? A schoolmate…? A friend…? A passing buddy…? Or….

_Shouldn't that be obvious, you idiot? _

And now my mind is talking to me.

_Think about it. After all the stuff he does for you, and all the time you spend together, you just think you're just 'buddies?' Tch, I've never heard of something stupider in all of my life. _

Gee. Thanks.

_Think about it, I mean, I know you think he's an idiot who always invades your personal space and stuff but, why do you think he's doing that to you? Because he wants to annoy you? Because he wants to protect you? …or he wants to be close to you? _

But…

_Come on and think about it. Say what's on your mind before it's too late!_

But now the thought that's on my mind is-

"I love Itsuki."

….

Did I just say that out loud?

I could feel my ears and cheeks becoming redder at the slow realisation of what I said.

I truly am such an idiot.

I slapped my hand around my mouth. But it was too late, the damage had already been done.

I looked up at Sugisaki, to see him with widened eyes.

I then switched my head around to look down at Itsuki. I was scared to see his reaction…

A huge, but somehow, true smile was plastered across his idiotic face.

"Kyon… you…" He cut off; with his smile just becoming wider… he seemed at a loss for words….for once.

Suddenly the moment was interrupted by Sugisaki. He… was laughing… in a horrible way… like the way a crazy or mentally ill person would in a murder-thriller anime… the kind that sent shivers down your spine.

He stopped laughing and stared at me, a huge grin across his face "Even if you say that Kyon-kun, that doesn't mean that I can't get rid of Koizumi-kun at your school and replace him! You don't have the authority to!"

I looked down at Itsuki, whose smile was replaced by a look of despair.

Wait… something similar to this has happened before with Nagato… but… will it work?

_Just do it you idiot. _

I pretended to act casual. "Fine." I saw Sugisaki's grin widen. "But, if you do that, then I'll just tell Haruhi everything about aliens, time-travellers and espers. And that, I'm John Smith."

I saw Sugisaki's eye twitch, which amused me to no end. He looked furious, but out of options.

"You wouldn't…."

"Oh, but I would."

I stared at him with a dead serious face on. And after a staring contest that lasted about 30 seconds, Sugisaki finally gave in and looked to the side sighing.

"Very well." But he then looked at me "But however this won't be the last you'll see of me… because… well, you're 'interesting', Kyon-kun." He smiled at me.

He then turned on his heel and waved us a good-bye over his shoulder

"I'll be seeing you two then… and good luck." He muttered the last bit… which caused me to worry. But then I remembered another problem… a more irritating one.

I spun around "I-Itsuki, are you alright?" I was greeted by Itsuki suddenly hugging me, causing me to fall over backwards.

"Hey! What the hell is up with you… you… you idiot!" I shouted as I fell onto my back, landing with a quiet thump on the floor. As Itsuki placed his head on my chest, I could feel a blush on my cheeks.

"Thank you, Kyon…"

…idiot, you're meant to be injured.

* * *

><p>Phew! another chapter done! ^-^ Sorry if Kyon seems out of character in this chapter but it was hard DX I based the last bit a bit off the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya...so...sorry that bit isnt THAT original xD Oh! But i hope you like Ken! He'll be appearing a bit more in the next chapters ;D (~love rival~ ...possibly~ xD)<p>

Review please and see you in the next chapter~!

Elzah-Chan


	9. Rescue

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD ...oh, but I do own Sugisaki-san xD **

**Chapter 9**

Eventually I pushed Itsuki off me and we stood up in the destroyed corridor awkwardly. Especially Itsuki, who was kind of hunched over because of his injury, which meant that I had to support him.

I guess I just don't get the pleasure of personal space anymore, huh?

"So…uh… how do we get out?"

Itsuki gave a really weak smile… which I don't blame him for after all the blood that he's lost and the stuff he's been through "Well… I believe that you should know that by now Kyon…"

Itsuki nodded up at the sky and as if by cue, it started to shatter into pieces, similar to how glass would.

Not this again.

As it gradually shattered, it slowly started to show the clouded winter sky that had been above it all the time. I squinted my eyes in the sudden light and as I opened them… the corridor that was once smashed and destroyed had returned to its normal state.

I let out a breath that I hadn't realised that I had been holding. "…Finally, we're back…" Suddenly I felt Itsuki's body slump.

Alarmed, I turned towards him to see him with his eyes closed… he wasn't breathing.

"CRAP!" I cursed out loud as I started panicking, my breath becoming more uneven and rash with every intake of air.

What the hell do you do when someone's dying in your arms?

I suddenly remembered someone.

Nagato.

I picked up lifeless Itsuki's body and held him similar to that of a princess, becoming even more scared at how cold he was. I then started running towards the sports field, where Nagato had let met enter the closed space.

Thank god Itsuki was light otherwise I would have had to drag him on the floor there by his arms, stairs and all.

As I ran out the back of the school building I realised how much I was panicking… I could feel my heart beating against my chest and my arms were trembling … I must look so stupid.

I then saw Nagato, feeling a wave of relief blow over me… but I was still panicking.

As I ran towards her I shouted "NAGATO!"

Upon hearing this, she turned her head up before she started slowly walking towards me… it's a shame she wasn't running, I would have liked to have seen that.

We met in the middle of the field. Me panting with wide eyes and her, staring at me.

I tried to spit out some words… but I was so worried about the idiot esper.

Nagato's brow furrowed slightly. Which amazed me; bearing in mind she doesn't ever show any emotions. "Place Itsuki Koizumi on the floor… I will attempt to access a restoration protocol."

I placed Itsuki on the floor, and as I did so, it was only then that I realised how awful he looked.

The main problem was the huge, red gash along the front of his stomach which was spewing blood like it was some kind of frikkin' fountain… it really wasn't that bad earlier… and he also had bruises and cuts all over his body, in particular his face, probably from when Sugisaki attacked him.

I then noticed that I was holding his hand… and mine was trembling.

I tried to force myself to let go…but I… couldn't… I just couldn't.

I rolled my eyes. Typical.

I then also noticed another thing "N-Nagato" oh geez my voice was shaking… "What do you mean by… attempt?"

Nagato looked up at me… there seemed to be an almost apologetic look in her eyes. She had one of her arms held out above Itsuki's wound… like she was about to cast something. "Although in many cases, accessing Itsuki Koizumi's restoration protocol should cause a beneficial result, there is also a similarly high possibility of the fact that accessing his restoration protocol will not be successful due to the factor that this wound was caused by a celestial and the factor that Itsuki Koizumi does not possess the powers that an ordinary human being should be equipped with." She paused for a second… before seemingly to reluctantly speak the next sentence "There may be nothing that even I can do."

My eyes widened even more.

But… that means that...he could die… and because of me…

…and I don't want that.

Nagato, after seeing my reaction looked down to Itsuki, took in a breath before saying "I will do my best." And then suddenly erupting into a weird alien spell, her mouth moving faster than any human's ever could. Suddenly, a weird white light started shining from her hand. I felt my free hand grip the sandy earth below me that was the running track. My other hand was tightly holding Itsuki's.

Then, the cut on Itsuki's body started to… kinda place itself back together again… I could see the tissue in the cut slowly joining up with each other again and the blood flowing out of it slowly stop. It was one of the most disgusting… yet amazing things I had ever seen.

Eventually the skin on the top of the cut literally placed itself back together and then the cut completely faded. I stared at it wide eyed before remembering Itsuki.

I looked at his chest to see if he was breathing… but he wasn't.

I looked up at Nagato. Who was staring back at me… it was clear that she had done all that she could do.

There was only one thing for it.

"Nagato, we need to give Itsuki CPR."

For the note, we learned about it in school, mainly during a first aid workshop when we learnt about all the things you should do when someone is injured… I didn't really remember any of it except the CPR… let's see you have to put your mouth over the other persons and breath into theirs…

…Okay, this is so clichéd…

I face-palmed.

But… I don't really have a choice.

With one last look at Nagato, who was staring at me, seemingly waiting for me to do something, I went down to Itsuki's mouth and breathed into it… I then looked down his body to see his chest rise and fall… but nothing else.

Crap…

I tried once more, becoming more desperate. But as I did it this time… in the corner of my eye, I saw Itsuki's eyes open slowly. I reeled back so he didn't see me, but it was too late. His eyes widened considerably before he suddenly went into a coughing fit… not that I really blame him for that because he's just come to life again.

I then realised my flood of relief that had consumed me… he won't die now…! I sunk my head in relief before putting my hand to my face and feeling…. Tears..?

I gave a weak smile as they streamed down my face and I whispered to myself "…What the…hell…? …Why am I…?" I covered my hand with my face… there's no way I'm letting him see me cry.

I kept my head down and listened to Itsuki speak, he sounded pretty normal only a bit more tired than usual "Ah, Nagato-san… thank you for rescuing me…"

I heard no response from Nagato for about 5 seconds before I heard her quietly say "Look."

Crap, I could tell she was looking or pointing at me…

I hoped that I thought wrong.

"…Kyon…"

But I didn't.

"Kyon are you… okay?" Itsuki asked me cautiously, I could hear the concern in his voice.

Okay that's it.

I looked up at him "Of course I'm not okay! How the hell can you act so normal just after you died you idiot?" I saw Itsuki's eyes widen in a mixture of shock and fear "Just after you confessed to me and you go and die! I had no idea what to do! Do you have any idea how much I worried about you? I thought you were going to die all because of me!"

I sniffed loudly. Crap, I'm so embarrassed… this isn't like me!

I stared at Itsuki, and instead of apologising… he… smiled… a very warm smile… He tilted his head to the side slightly "Oh course… thank you… so much Kyon… and… I'm sorry…"

I rubbed my eyes "Yeah… you better be you idiot-"

Itsuki was suddenly hugging me.

"I'm so sorry, for making you worry… and cry…" He whispered into my shoulder.

I sighed, calming down a bit "Yeah, whatever."

After that, me, Nagato and Itsuki decided to go back to our homes... and then after a night of literally no sleep, I wandered into the school quite literally like the walking dead, and then after a day of painful lessons which involved me having to ignore an excitable Haruhi and ignore the constant waves of sleep that kept attacking me.

I then headed (staggered) to the clubroom by myself as Haruhi had cleaning duty.

I knocked once on the door, and after hearing Asahina-san's quiet "Come in!" I entered to see Itsuki, Asahina-san and Nagato… the atmosphere was now how it used to be…

Thank god…

Asahina-san ran over to me upon seeing me, a cute look of concern was across her face "Kyon-kun! Are you alright? I heard about the incident from Nagato-san and Koizumi-kun…"

I smiled at her "I'm perfectly fine Asahina-san." The last thing I wanted was for her to worry.

She gave me a smile similar to that of a thousand flowers before turning and preparing some tea for me.

I sat down in my usual seat, looking up at Koizumi who was staring at me with his stupid plastic smile again. "Good Afternoon, Kyon."

I see you haven't stopped saying my name unnecessarily.

And how can you act so normal after yesterday?

I felt my cheeks flush "Yeah, Hi…" I looked to the side to where the chess set was. "Hey Koizumi, wanna play a game of chess?" I needed an excuse to be looking to the side so he couldn't see my stupid face.

And for that note, we decided yesterday before we all went home that I would call Itsuki in the clubroom, 'Koizumi', like I did before.

So we wouldn't have any more temper-tantrums from a selfish, hormonal teenage girl.

He continued to smile of me "Of course, Kyon."

The rest of the brigade meeting continued as normal, with Nagato reading, Asahina-san being harassed by Haruhi the moment she had returned from cleaning duty, and me and Itsuki, playing chess.

I would have liked to say that nothing had changed, but I was unfortunately reminded that it had after the club had ended.

Haruhi, Nagato and Asahina-san had already left so it just left me and Itsuki in the clubroom. And then, just as I was about to make my exit…

"Kyon?"

I froze.

"W-what is it?" I replied reluctantly… I could feel my face heating up from the sudden confrontation.

Itsuki spoke once again "Did you mean what you said?"

I felt my face turn beetroot. I continued to face the door. "W-what?"

"That you loved me."

I turned around "Of course I did you idiot-" I broke off as I saw Itsuki's face… he looked seriously upset. Crap… maybe I shouldn't have raised my voice then.

I tried to calm my voice "Look, why would I lie about that?" I tried to look at him sincerely, ignoring the awkward atmosphere.

Itsuki thought for about a second before speaking again "Then… would you like to go on a date with me... tomorrow?"

"A…date…?" A date… a date… that's what couples do right? Are we a couple…? Truly? Seriously? Officially? Does that mean I'm…?

_Just go on it you idiot. _

Thank you for that moral support, my conscience that keeps talking as if it's a separate thing from me.

I tried to keep my voice as low as possible, as I turned around to stop Koizumi seeing my face again. "F…fine…"

I could hear Itsuki's voice become extremely happy "Really…? You will?"

"..Well, if you don't want me to…" I interjected

Koizumi sounded alarmed for a second "Huh? Oh, No! I really want you to!"

I couldn't help but grin at his reaction.

As annoying as he may be sometimes, his reactions could be pretty… amusing.

* * *

><p>SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR AGES! DX i had a bunch of friendship issues that I had to deal with . But thank you for putting up with me XD Oh, and I'm sorry that this chapter hasnt been that good and if Kyon and Koizumi went a bit OOC but I had a serious writers block +_+ But... it should all be gone by the next chapter, aka, the date chapter :D Where Sugisaki-san reappears... DUN DUN DUUNNN~ XD I still have to decide who he will be a romantic rival for though . Maybe Koizumi because then he'll get defensive of Kyon...or maybe Kyon so he sees just how much he truely loves Koizumi xD We'll have to see~ Fu fu fu~~ x3<p>

Anyway, please review and favourite and stuff, they make me very happy! :D And once again, I apolgise if you think my writing isn't up to scratch but I will improve because this is just my first story xD

Oh, and a big huge epic THANK YOU! To SakuraDrops141 who has been faithfully reading and reviewing my story! :D Thank you soooo much! People like you are making it alll worthwhile! *virtual hugs and hands cookie* (^w^)

See you in the next chapter~!

Elzah-Chan :3


	10. Fear

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa etc, etc…. anyway, enjoy the story xD ...oh, but I do own Sugisaki-san xD **

**Chapter 10**

The Sunday started like any other. I got woken up by my over-hyperactive sister and Samisen before heading downstairs to have breakfast, still in my pyjamas. And as usual I ate my breakfast with my sister asking me stupid questions that I really didn't care about and Shamisen staring at me… probably wanting some of my food.

However, it was after breakfast that I realised that it wasn't a regular Sunday.

Today was my date with Itsuki.

Crap.

I had completely forgotten about it.

I turned my head towards the clock… it was 11:00… I think we were meeting at the station at 12:00?

And I still haven't decided what to wear.

I headed upstairs and over to my clothes draw in an oddly excited mood and started looking at all of my clothes… which one should I wear?

But then, as I pulled out a pale green baggy jumper with short-sleeves I stopped.

What the hell am I doing?

I'm acting like a frikkin' 15 year old girl in a shoujo manga on her first date with a boy which she adores.

But I'm not.

I'm Kyon. (Well, that's at least my nickname) An average 17 year old guy who often gets irritable and is straight… I think…

I placed the t-shirt down on the side of my bed and did a face-palm.

I can't believe it… I'm actually going on a date with another guy.

I looked at the clock again 11:13… I need to hurry because otherwise I won't get there on time.

And the last thing I want is a guilt trip by Itsuki.

I quickly and briefly looked over my clothes before flinging together some random stuff that I thought would look okay… grey/black baggyish trousers and that light green shirt that I had earlier.

I stood in the mirror and stared at myself.

I wonder how Haruhi (or even my mum) would react if she knew I was on a date with another guy… let alone Itsuki.

But, whatever, I thought as I walked down the stairs giving a vague reply to my mum who asked me where I was going.

She doesn't need to know… at least… not yet.

I shuddered mentally at the thought.

However, I quickly placed that thought to the side and went to get my bike. (Which had been given back to me by the way, after it was confiscated due to Haruhi's antics.)

I just hope today is uneventful to say in the least.

But it wasn't.

I eventually arrived at the train station to see Itsuki was already there. I glanced at my watch… 11:48. Please tell me that he had just arrived and he hadn't actually been waiting here for ages beforehand.

I quickly glanced over what he was wearing… a pretty smart jacket waist coat thing with a tie… with also smart black trousers. Well, I look way too casual to be even compared to him right now.

His face lit up as he saw me pull up beside him. "Good Morning Kyon!" He spoke with a beaming smile.

My reply was more laid back "Yeah, good morning too…" I then had a thought as I turned to look at him "How long have you been waiting?"

I saw Itsuki's face flush before he looked embarrassed to the side. "Well, unfortunately I was unable to get any sleep due to the excitement and so… I came here about 2 hours earlier…" He gave a laugh

It was the complete opposite to my reaction.

I could feel my jaw drop

"S-Seriously?"

"Seriously."

I stared at him as his blush increased "I just… couldn't wait… to go on this date with you Kyon…"

The fact he said date acted as a harsh and sudden reminder. This is a date.

I could feel my cheeks become warm as I remembered this fact (one that I would much rather forget.) "Y-yeah…" I tried to respond in the laid back voice that I had just had… however it wasn't returning.

Itsuki then spoke again, a wide smile on his face "Well then, shall we go?"

I locked my bike up to some random railings before walking slightly faster to catch up with him "Where are we going?"

He looked at me "Well, last night I went through the privilege of trying to select places that would be suitable for our date… is the aquarium okay?"

What the hell? An aquarium? What are we? 12? …But… I guess it would be better than doing nothing outside and possibly being seen by someone who knows us… I don't know who would be worse to run into… Haruhi or Taniguchi…

"Yeah, sure." I muttered trying to avoid making eye contact.

Well this is going to be fun…

We arrived eventually at the aquarium and after getting into it (After paying) we headed around all of the many exhibits of colourful fish, making some conversation and stuff about them… and in some cases being educated by Itsuki about the different species…

But… even though I was ignoring the majority of what Itsuki educated me on, I was still surprised to find out that I… was having fun…

Itsuki and I stood in front of a huge aquarium window… in the exhibit was some killer-whales which were pretty awesome to watch.

However, as we were standing there in what I though was awed silence, Itsuki started speaking.

"Kyon? Are you having fun?"

I looked to him, to see him smiling at me.

I looked back, trying not to stare at his rather radiant smiling face.

"Well… you educating me on the fish was kinda annoying… and my feet also hurt from standing too much…"

I looked at Itsuki, who suddenly looked upset.

I continued while looking at him "But… yeah, I guess I am having fun."

I could feel myself smile as Itsuki's face lit up and I tried to hold in a laugh.

Itsuki also gave a laugh, confused as to my sudden …and unusual for me… good mood. "Why are you laughing?"

I tried to hold in another laugh "Because of your reaction…!"

I saw Itsuki smile, before he finally seemed to comprehend what I said and a huge blush appeared on his face.

"H-huh!"

"Like now!" I continued "It's ….funny to see you act so differently to how you do in the clubroom, where you seem all composed… but here… You're completely different!"

Itsuki's blush increased but he suddenly seemed to think of a come-back "W-Well, look at you! You're smiling and laughing and I never see that in the clubroom!"

I wasn't surprised. I couldn't do anything else but groan in the clubroom at Haruhi's antics… I guess I occasionally smiling at Asahina-san's smile but… I guess I was overall pretty gloomy.

We then looked straight up at each-other and our eyes met, we then both spoke at the same time

"…Really?"

We froze for a moment before we both noticed how we both spoke together before we both burst out laughing, seeming to completely forget about the whales, fishes and families surrounding us, who were giving us concerned looks.

It… was weird… whenever I'm around Itsuki I feel like… the wall has been taken down, and there's nothing blocking us off from each-other… and… I just realised I really liked being around him … and how soppy I just sounded… good grief…

"Itsuki I-"

"Well, well, what have we here?" I was suddenly cut off by a voice… an all too familiar voice.

I saw Itsuki's eyes widen in a mixture of fear and shock at the space behind me and I knew instantly who it was without even needing to turn around.

Either it was Haruhi, or…

"Sugisaki."

I heard him laugh "Aha-ha-ha! Kyon-kun, I thought I told you to call me Sugisaki-sama!" He then whispered in my ear in a scarily, low voice. "…we wouldn't want any incidents to happen here would we?"

I spun around instinctively and stood in front of Itsuki.

Sugisaki was standing there, with his black hair as it always was, his freaky purple eye showing and he was still wearing that black-school uniform type of jacket and trousers that he wore last time.

"Leave us alone." I tried to speak with authority, but I found my hands were shaking.

What the hell?

Am I… scared of this guy?

Sugisaki gave another, more spine chilling laugh. "I don't believe that you have the authority to request me to do that… Right? Koizumi-kun?"

I tensed my muscles even more… and he seemed to notice this.

He gave a small, but forced sigh "Don't worry Kyon-kun; I have no reasons to hurt Koizumi-kun…" He then looked directly at me, and his voice reached the scary low one again as his eyes darkened.

"But I must admit that I am terribly disappointed about Haruhi Suzumiya's 'key' going out with someone from my agency… when we are just meant to be supervising you…"

Oh yeah, I forgot about how bi-polar he was.

He gave a shrug "Because of your decision, we will never truly know what Suzumiya-san's potential power is… unless of course…"

He trailed off.

And I didn't like the fact that he did that.

He then started slowly walking in a large circle around me towards Itsuki, my eyes and head following him warily as he did so.

What the hell was he trying to do?

"Well, no matter… so, are you two on a date then? How… interesting…" He snickered before coming to a standstill beside Itsuki.

I saw Itsuki flinch. I wasn't really sure whether it was out of fear or if he was preparing for something.

And by the way, at this point I didn't really care about the families, fish and stuff surrounding us.

I saw Sugisaki raise his arm. But suddenly just as I was about to push him out of the way, he slunk his arm around Itsuki's shoulder.

What the hell?

I saw Itsuki's eyes widen as a blush crept across his cheeks.

I hated the look in his eyes right now.

I could feel myself clench my fists.

Itsuki spoke "Um… S-Sugisaki-san, what are you doing?"

"Well, I just thought I may as well as take this chance to get closer to you…" I saw him fight back a smirk and instead smiled sweetly.

I finally spoke "What are you talking about? You can't go around with us! T-This is… me and Itsuki's… date…" I uncharacteristically stuttered.

I saw Sugisaki's eyes glint with some sort of sick delight at me mentioning this before he started speaking once again.

"I think that you are forgetting Kyon-KUN that you have no right to boss me around since I am Koizumi-kun's higher-up and subsequently, yours too."

"Tch…" I couldn't think of anything to say… not right now anyway. If Haruhi was around I would have played the 'John Smith' card again, but even if I did do that today, I wasn't exactly going to run all the way to Haruhi's house to say it to her.

Wait, why am I getting so worked up about this?

Sugisaki gave a satisfied grin before he turned around, dragging Itsuki around with him… Itsuki seemed too scared to speak up.

Geez.

I followed with a scowl on my face. I sub-consciously gritted my teeth every time Sugisaki pulled Itsuki closer or touched his hair and stuff.

He was getting awfully grabby… and I hated it… for some reason.

Every time we reached a new exhibit, Sugisaki would pull Itsuki closer (Even though Itsuki didn't notice because he was an idiot.)

Finally, after getting too pissed off, I decided I'd better quickly go to the toilet to wash my face.

"Hey." I raised my voice at the two. They turned around, Sugisaki was grinning and Itsuki looked terrified. "I'm going to the toilet."

I pointed to the toilets as Sugisaki grinned, he subsequently pointed to a nearby bench. "Go ahead." His eyes then darkened as he smirked "Take your time."

I quickly saw Itsuki mouth "I'm sorry…" He looked painfully upset.

I told myself that I really shouldn't leave those two alone but I knew that if I did stay there, I would have ended up seriously snapping.

I walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink. My hair was a mess and there was a huge scowl on my face. I sighed quickly before washing my face briefly.

What the heck?

Was I… jealous of Sugisaki?

No… w-why would I be? It's okay for Itsuki to get closer to other guys r-right?

God, I don't even want to THINK about the mass amount of stress wrinkles I'll have on my face if this continues.

Ignoring my mental monologue I decided that I had spent enough time in the toilets and so headed out.

However I froze and my eyes widened upon my exit.

Itsuki was kissing Sugisaki.

* * *

><p>CLIFFHANGER! AND A TERRIBLY SHORT CHAPTER! 8D ...I'm sorry, but I felt like this was the only suitable place to end this chapter without it ending up being a super long 20 page epic xD But, I have a feeling that I will update pretty~ soon (I mean, for once I actually updated very quickly with this chapter o_o')<p>

Wow~ Sugisaki-san is pretty evil~ But fun to write. xD Sorry Kyon, but your gonna have to put up with him and his antics for a while longer xD I need to try drawing him some day xD And anyway, Jealous Kyon is fun to write XDDD

But anyway, please read and review because they make me very happy~! ^o^ And please look forward to the next chapter! :D

See you soon!

Elzah-Chan

random note: I just read a new Itsukyon fanfic and it was amazing... I'm definetly going to try to pull out alllll of the stops to try and reach that persons standard! Get ready for a better style of writing! :D ...because my version of Kyon sucks. T^T

Another random note XD: The reason that this was updated so quickly was because i've been spending lots of lunchtimes in the library at school, ignoring all the looks of my classmates who are just like "Wtf is she writing?" and "Who is Kyon and Itsuki..? Are they japanese or something?" ..They just don't understand how awesome it is T^T


	11. Gone

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although I wish I did XD) And all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. But I do own Sugisaki :D Anyway, enjoy this next chapter! x3**

**Chapter 11**

I stared at the sight that was before my eyes.

Itsuki was kissing Sugisaki.

But why did he say to me that he loved me then?

Doesn't he love me?

… Why did I say I loved him…?

As I stared at Itsuki seem to pull back from the kiss but Sugisaki place his hand on the back of his head and pull him closer, I gritted my teeth.

Why doesn't he resort violence or something?

I should be the only one who-

… What am I saying?

I don't love Itsuki; I… don't know anything about him! And he's a guy! What's wrong with me? Why did I go so weird earlier?

Haruhi on the other hand… she was a girl… She wasn't normal (Heck she was far from it) but she was beautiful... every guys dream… (Minus the whole alien, time-traveller, sliders and espers thing…) … I never should have been with Itsuki…

But why am I so angry right now?

I saw Itsuki pull away eventually, but it was too late "S-S-Sugisaki-san… what are you doing?" His eyes were wide with fear, but I didn't care.

"That's what I should be asking you."

I spat out the words harshly as I kept my head down.

I could hear Itsuki freak out "KYON! I-I-I NEVER MEANT TO-"

Sugisaki interrupted him "…go out with you… is what you should say… right? Koizumi-kun?" His voice was low.

"What…? N…no I went out with Kyon because I love him…"

I looked up at him "Really?" I could feel myself glaring "So why didn't you resist Sugisaki?"

I saw Itsuki open his mouth to try and explain but I cut him off. I knew that I was being unfair… but I was seriously angry.

"Why did you not stop him? Why are you always nice to me? Why did you say you loved me? Why did you …mess with my… feelings…?"

I gritted my teeth.

I said something I shouldn't have said.

"W-Whatever!" I turned on my heel "…I'm going home… you two have a nice time together."

I started walking.

_Where the hell do you think you're going?_

Shut up. The last thing I want is to be 'persuaded' by my conscious again.

_Hah. You're running away aren't you? _

Excuse me?

_You can't take the fact that someone else is interested in Itsuki so you're giving up, saying you were never actually interested._

But I wasn't-

_Yeah sure. _

…

_Do you really believe yourself? Don't you feel unbearably painful right now?_

Huh? No I'm not-

_I can tell you are. I'm your conscious._

Then why did you even ask?

…

Look, I feel bad because Itsuki messed with my feelings and then rejected them.

_So… you DO like him then? _

I… just want him to be happy.

_Then what are you so scared of?_

What do you mean-?

I was suddenly cut off by Itsuki running behind me; he grabbed my hand, which I shook off.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I shouted it a little bit louder than I expected. I spun around to glare at him but froze.

His eyes were filled with tears.

"Kyon, I… I never meant for this to happen… Sugisaki-san just suddenly…" He bowed his head down, tears falling down his face "I'm …so sorry!"

It felt like I'd just been stabbed in the heart.

I tried to ignore his tears… but man it was hard. "So you're trying to tell me that Sugisaki forced you to kiss you?"

Itsuki froze before he whispered something.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I was seriously trying to sound stern and harsh.

Itsuki suddenly, and uncharacteristically shouted, scaring me.

"He said he would hurt you if I didn't!" He then lowered his voice, along with his head "… but I never thought you would come out when I did it…"

Wait? So... he was trying to protect me?

And that also means that Sugisaki-

"Itsuki… why-"

I suddenly felt someone grab me around my neck as I saw Itsuki's eyes widen.

I heard a low voice whisper in my ear "So I've been caught out have I?"

I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Sugisaki continued speaking "Very well, yes it was true that I wanted you two to split up. That way we would be able to see Haruhi Suzumiya-san's true power. I decided that it would be… more humane to let you split up voluntarily…"

What the hell?

"But since that seems like it isn't going to happen… I may have to be more… forceful."

…I really didn't like the way he said that.

I felt Sugisaki take something out of his pocket and I stared down his arm to see…

A syringe.

I could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the side of my face as I felt my heart start pounding against my ribcage.

"Sugisaki… w-what are you-" I could feel my voice trembling. I mean, come on! I was scared! He's like some creepy person from a murder-mystery anime who has some weird illness! …what was it called… No that doesn't matter!

He interrupted my question with the answer "This syringe is filled with a fluid that will cause you to lose all of your memories…" He held it up to the light, the pale green liquid shined slightly inside it. "Oh, but don't worry. I'll make sure to remind you of your family and friends… I just won't remind you of your… relationship." He looked up at Itsuki as he spoke that.

I wanted to push myself away, but I was so scared I couldn't move.

So wait, I might lose all of my memories of being with Itsuki…?

"That's not… fair!" I gasped as my breath became more jagged with fear.

Sugisaki gave a horrible laugh "Life isn't fair Kyon-kun."

Itsuki finally spoke "Please Sugisaki! I'll part with Kyon willingly if you don't hurt him!"

Oh geez.

I rolled my eyes.

I heard Sugisaki snigger. "Is that a promise then?"

But just as Itsuki was about to reply I interrupted.

"Hell no!"

I felt Sugisaki flinch.

I had finally snapped.

"I want to be with Itsuki! Isn't that enough for you Sugisaki! I'll make up some excuse for Haruhi, so you don't have to do this! Especially after all that Itsuki has done for you, you ungrateful bastard! Why can't you accept the fact that I love him?"

"You love Koizumi-kun?"

I was about to reply when I realised that it wasn't Sugisaki speaking…

…it was a girl…

…with a very familiar voice…

…it couldn't be…?

I looked up.

Haruhi was standing there.

Asahina-san and Nagato were behind her to boot.

I could feel my face flush up, before I started to panic.

"H…Haruhi… w-what are you doing here…?"

Her eyes were dark. "I came here with Yuki and Mikuru-Chan because I heard you guys were also here… I wanted to surprise you…"

She lowered her head, with her bangs covering her eyes… was she… Crying?

"Haruhi I-" I was about to continue when suddenly I felt a piercing pain in my arm.

I let out a loud gasp, causing everyone to look straight at me.

Haruhi looked up and her eyes widened at the sight.

Asahina-san gasped as her eyes also widened and she clasped a hand over her mouth.

Itsuki shouted my name.

And Nagato moved. Nagato alone.

She flashed up in front of me and hit Sugisaki around the side of his neck… somehow knocking him out instantly.

She must have jumped at least 10 metres in less than a second.

But I didn't have any time to be impressed by Nagato's epic skills because I could feel a burning sensation crawling slowly up my arm.

I suddenly felt a horrible cramp in my chest and fell to the floor.

I gasped. It seriously felt like my chest was being ripped apart!

Everyone ran over to me.

Asahina-san was crying over me, (Something like this has happened to me before…) Haruhi was screaming at me to get up with her face pale, Nagato was staring at me and Itsuki was just frozen to where he was standing.

Haruhi shouted up at Nagato "YUKI! W-what the hell was in that injection?" She sounded desperate.

Great, I can feel the burning sensation up at my neck… am I actually going to lose my memory?

I heard Nagato speak behind me, where Sugisaki was.

"Inside the syringe was a fluid that is used to remove the memory of the recipient. So in this case, he is going to lose all of his memory, apart from the base facts… in this case being his name and his family."

I could see Haruhi's eyes widen as she gritted her teeth together. She blinked, allowing a single tear to go down her face.

Wow, she's actually crying over me.

"Kyon! *sniff* DON'T YOU DARE GO LOSING YOUR MEMORY ON ME!" She grabbed the sides of my head as her tears started increasing "YOU IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT!" She was shaking her head.

By the way, at this point Asahina-san was crying hysterically.

I felt the liquid almost in my head. I wonder what I'm going to be like after this?

Will I forget all of my friends? Haruhi? Nagato? Asahina-san? Even that idiot Taniguchi? …will I forget all about the SOS brigade? …and… Itsuki…?

I felt some tears come to my eyes.

Oh great.

I think all of this crying is catching.

I turned my head to the side to see Itsuki, who was just standing there with his eyes wide… tears were forming.

Great, him too then?

I turned to Haruhi. And decided to force out some breath. If I'm going to forget my memory, I may as well as let some things go.

"Haruhi…" She looked straight at me, sniffing to fight back even more tears and anger. "I… actually enjoyed the SOS brigade… I'm going to miss it…"

Haruhi's eyes widened, before she lowered her head into her hands and went silent.

"….you…idiot…" She whispered.

I looked at Asahina-san, who was still unsurprisingly crying. "Asahina-san… I really… enjoyed your tea… please be as lovely as you are to me to the new me…"

She stopped crying for about a second before she started crying even more.

I then attempted to speak up a bit, for Nagato. But it was seriously getting harder to speak. "Nagato, Thank you so much… for everything that you have done for me… seriously." I grinned weakly before hearing her speak back in monotone.

"I'm sorry."

…Well, there isn't really anything she can do right now is there? If there was she probably would have done it by now.

Suddenly everything went darker… crap, I think I'm going to pass out.

I slowly and painfully turned my head to Itsuki. Who looked right at me.

I gave a weak smile… but I was in so much pain that I just wanted to scream out.

"Itsuki… Thank you… and I… love…you…"

Everything suddenly got really dark and I closed my eyes… I think I've said everything… but still…

Why did it have to turn out like this…?

…

God, my head is killing me.

Huh? I can hear a voice…

" Guests, he's waking up!"

It was really faint… oh no wait there's a louder one.

"WHAT? M-MOVE OUT THE WAY! KYON! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Okay, that voice is too loud.

And Kyon…? who is that….? It sounds like some kind of weird nickname…

…oh yeah, it's me.

Another, cuter sounding voice spoke in between sniffs "K…Kyon-kun…? P…please o-open you're… eyes…"

"OPEN THEM YOU MORON!"

Please be quiet, whoever is speaking in a loud voice.

I then heard the faint voice at the start speak again "Miss, please do not shake the patient!"

Suddenly, I felt the back of my head hit something hard and my eyes snapped open.

White.

My eyes slowly adjusted and as they did so… I could make out a angry looking girl with brown hair and a yellow headband staring at me, a adorable girl beside her with doe eyes and tear stains down her cheeks, her beautiful orange hair shining in the hospital light, and another girl, with a blank face that showed no emotion, but had beautiful eyes and grey hair.

I saw relief appear on the first two girl's faces as I opened my eyes. The grey haired one continued staring at me.

The angry one's eyes softened before she lowered her voice. "Kyon? Are you okay?"

I gave a weak nod. I still felt dizzy.

Suddenly her face was right in front of mine. Too close. It made me jump.

"What's my name?"

She stared at me like she was trying to fire some weird kind of energy into me… but it kinda felt like my life was in danger.

… dejavu?

It felt weird to speak "Why the hell would I know?"

But there was one thing I knew for sure. This girl was irritating me.

The angry girls eyes fell… and as she pulled away from me, she looked at the hospital bed.

"o…oh…."

Huh? Why is she reacting like that? …Have I …. Met her before?

Suddenly the cute one tried to speak… but she sounded so scared…

"Um… Kyon-kun…? W-what about me…?"

I stared at her. She was seriously so cute. I felt bad for not knowing her.

I tried to sound kinder. "N...no I'm sorry…"

I looked around the room… I seemed to be in a hospital bed… I looked down my arms to see a bunch of stuff plugged into them that I really wish I didn't see.

"…why am I in a hospital?"

The angry one spoke again, only softer this time.

"You… lost your memory…"

She looked up at me again. "Answer these questions."

I gave a nod, I felt like I might be killed if I didn't answer them.

"What is your name?"

"My name is-"

"Actually never mind, it's clear that you know that one.

Oh gee, thanks.

"What members do you have in your family?"

Wow, she seems to be taking this seriously.

"Um…" I thought for a moment "My mum, my dad, my little sister… and… a cat?"

She seemed to brighten up a little bit as she heard this.

"Okay! Now, what is the SOS brigade?"

I stared at her.

"I dunno. What the hell is the SOS brigade?"

* * *

><p>Yay~! Sorry people this took so long to update! I had a super big writers block and then thought that barely anyone was reading and gave up... but suddenly I got a wave of reviews and I decided to continue it! Thank you for sticking by me! x3<p>

Anyway, I hope you people like this chapter, it was pretty difficult to write and I wrote it in two seperate sections, and the chapter also had 2 different endings. In one of them, Sugisaki was going to attack Kyon with a knife, but then I thought that it was too similar and had been done too many times so I decided to do this! (Not that this is much better...)

Sorry if people went quite OOC in this chapter too... *-*

But regardless, read and review and spread this story! And hopefully this time I should update a lot sooner! :D Since my summer Vacation has JUST started x3

Thank you so much for the other people who reviewed! If it werent for you guys, this chapter wouldnt be here right now! xD

See you in the next chapter!

Elzah-chan xx


	12. Lost

****DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although I wish I did XD) And all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. But I do own Sugisaki :D But anyway, enjoy this chapter~! x3 ****

**Chapter 12**

The angry girl stared at me and the cute one let out a gasp. The blank faced one said nothing.

…Did I do something wrong?

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the room.

"Y… you forgot all about the SOS brigade…?"

It was broken by the angry girl again.

What the hell is she talking about?

Some kind of weird club?

"A-As I said, I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

I sighed.

"Who are you people anyway?"

They said I lost my memory huh?

However, everyone in the room remained under a constrained silence. The angry girl with her back turned on me, the cute one starting to look distraught, and the polka faced one continued staring at me.

I tried speaking again "Well, A…Are you going to tell me who you are…?"

Suddenly, to my surprise the cute one spoke.

"…Um…" She seemed…. Scared? "M…my name is M-Mikuru Asahina..."

She shyed away for a second, lowering her head nervously as her blush increased. I guess the atmosphere was getting to her too. …She seemed like the only normal one out of this lot.

"…w…we were g-good friends in Suzumiya-san's SOS… brigade… before you…" She had reduced to a whisper.

I'm guessing 'Suzumiya-san' is that girl over there who believes that she is the almighty overlord of the universe?

…wait…Have I said something like that before?

I tried to speak as softly as I could, trying not to scare her away any more.

"Um… Asahina…san? Could you maybe tell me what this SOS brigade is?"

Asahina-san looked up for a moment blushing, before turning to the Suzumiya girl for assistance.

I seriously just wanted to hug her. Asahina-san anyway. But I didn't though.

The Suzumiya girl moved her head slightly, seeming to notice Asahina-san's begging looks. So she started talking, apart from she wasn't facing me.

"…My name is Haruhi Suzumiya. I have no interest in ordinary humans. But if there are-"

"Any aliens, time-travellers or Espers here, come join me-" I slapped a hand over my mouth.

What the hell did I just say?

It was like it just slipped out… like I have heard it many times before…

I looked up.

I saw the Suzumiya girl staring at me, with her eyes wide, her jaw dropped slightly. She whispered.

"W…What did you just say?"

She stared at me. Ack. What the heck do I say?

"I… don't… know…"

I looked around the room, seeking salvation to relieve me of the constant headache that was this Suzumiya girl. Asahina-san's eyes were just as wide as Suzumiya's. I turned to the polka-faced girl for the first time in a while to see if she could help and for some weird reason I was shocked.

She seemed to have a look of frustration… creased across her face.

…I wasn't sure why I was so shocked… I mean, this girl could show emotions too, right? …it wasn't like she was an alien or robot or something…

It was like…

…She never showed emotions.

As I continued staring at her, she spoke, the look on her face unmoving.

"Yuki Nagato."

She spoke in monotone… the kind of voice you could forget in 5 seconds.

I guessed that was her name.

And still, that look on her face didn't move… it was like… she didn't know how to or something…

I opened my mouth to speak back but suddenly Suzumiya cut across me.

"The SOS brigade stands for Saving The World By Overloading It With Fun Haruhi Suzumiya's Brigade…" She stared at me. I don't think she had realised the look on Nagato-san's face.

And wait.

What the hell kind of a group is that?

Haruhi replied to my mental question with the same question. "Does it ring any bells as to what group it is?"

…I might have been hearing things… but she sounded… really hopeful when she said that.

I thought for a second before replying bluntly with:

"No."

Suzumiya's look of hope in her eyes vanished, as she looked at the banister of the hospital bed helplessly.

Why would I know?

Crap, why do I feel bad?

I looked back to Nagato-san, whose polka-face had returned as if it had never left.

Heh, why am I not surprised?

I then spoke looking out the window blankly… I guess what I said next kinda just got blurted out.

"…Say…" I felt Suzumiya's face look up at me along with Asahina-san's… I think I could feel Nagato-san's face also on me…

"Wasn't there another guy in your group?"

My eyes widened as I spoke it… I felt as though I had said something… very… very strange.

…w-why would I know that?

I looked slowly back towards the others. Asahina-san's eyes were wide with a hand clasped over her mouth… she was… shaking her head ever so slightly… Nagato-san continued to stare at me.

I then looked up at the Suzumiya girl.

Her head was down. Her eyes were covered by her fringe. And her hands were trembling.

Suddenly, I felt a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach and I felt dizzy. I fell sideways onto the side of my bed, quickly and luckily catching myself with my arm in a nick of time. I rested with my head in my hand, my vision blurred.

What… the hell…?

…what's… happening to me…?

I heard Asahina-san squeak "AH! Kyon-kun! What's the matter!" I heard her footsteps patter over to me but she seemed to freeze when the Suzumiya girl spoke.

"Mikuru-Chan, Yuki, I think we need to leave Kyon to rest… He's been under a lot of…. Emotional… stress…" Even though that sentence would have usually been spoke softly with a comforting tone, the way Suzumiya said it was icy and cold. It sent shivers down my spine…

…I have no idea what's going on anymore.

I then heard her walk quietly… too quietly… out of the hospital room.

The dizziness started to slowly subside…

I then heard Asahina-san give a quiet and reluctant noise of agreement before walking out suit with a little "I'll see you later, Kyon-kun…" In order to say good bye.

However, as my vision slowly returned, I never heard Nagato-san's footsteps leave. As I looked up, my eyes once again becoming accustomed to the hospital lights, I saw her still standing there, looking at me.

I looked back at her for a little while; however, it soon became clear to me that in order to start a conversation with her, you would have to be the person to initiate it.

"…Um… Nagato-san…? I…is there something you need?"

Nagato-san gave a small nod, however it was only it was a minuscule movement of her head.

A silence then settled in.

It was only when I gave a nod back that she started speaking.

"You are presumably unaware of what your condition was before you had your case of memory loss?"

I returned her question with a small and quite confused nod.

"Before you lost your memory, you were in a …relationship with Itsuki Koizumi who-"

I interrupted "Wait, who?"

Nagato-san stared at me.

"He is the other male in Haruhi Suzumiya's SOS brigade. You are in the same year at school. You two went through… many things together…"

My jaw dropped. "Wait, wait, wait… so… I was gay?"

Nagato-san opened her mouth before freezing. She… didn't seem sure how to answer. "I do not know that."

I decided to let that slide for a while.

"So…? Where is this Itsuki Koizumi now?"

Nagato-san answered. "He is currently in a closed space, attempting to destroy the celestials that appear in that area due to Haruhi Suzumiya's fear and frustration. He is also emotionally distraught, as he is the one who blames himself for your loss of memory."

Now I was confused… and slightly scared.

"…What the hell is a closed space…? …A…and celestials?"

She must be pulling my leg. Ha… nice way to treat someone who has just woken up and learned that they have amnesia…

Her eyes glinted slightly in the hospital light as it flickered for a moment. She looked up slowly at it, then back to me.

"What I am about to tell you, I have already told your previous form before the incident. It is difficult to convey into words. Discrepancies may also arise during the transmission of data. Regardless listen."

"Haruhi Suzumiya and I are not ordinary humans."

I stared at her, confused. What the hell is she talking about?

"I… I kinda figured that already…"

I suddenly got that headache again as I said that.

I looked up at Nagato-san when it went away and… she had that similar look in her eyes that the Suzumiya girl had… kinda… a look of hope…

"You are starting to remember some of the previous data you knew before the incident. This is because I am trying to access your restoration protocol, through the permission of the Data Overmind. However, it is difficult because the Data Overmind is considering whether the loss of this data will be beneficial or not."

Okay now I'm lost.

"However, I on the other hand personally believe that this loss of data is potentially catastrophic. Both for Haruhi Suzumiya… and myself. So what I am currently doing is going against the will of the Data Overmind. However, if this proves to be the correct path of action, the Data Overmind will forgive my abrupt actions."

She finally seemed to notice my confused face and started speaking again.

"I am… A humanoid interface created to make contact with organic life forms by the supervisor of this galaxy, the Data Overmind. That would be me. My job is to observe Haruhi Suzumiya and report all obtained data to the Data Overmind."

"That is the task that I have performed since I was born three years ago. During the past three years, no uncertain elements appeared. The situation was extremely stable. However, recently, an irregular factor which cannot go unheeded has appeared near Haruhi Suzumiya."

"That would be you."

"However, this you was the previous version of yourself before the incident occurred. So Haruhi Suzumiya is currently extremely upset, causing the world to almost come to an end on various occasions… However due to the actions of Itsuki Koizumi and myself, it was prevented. But… after you had awoke, these spaces have started expanding, showing that Haruhi Suzumiya Is increasingly upset. These headaches and feelings of nausea that you experience, are through the acts of me, trying to access your restoration protocol. However, there are many emotional and physical barriers blocking me. I believe that in order to gain back your past memories, you need to activate them through some sort of trigger."

"…w…what…?"

So… wait… she must be pulling my leg. …But she really didn't sound like it… A… Humanoid interface… does that mean that she's an alien? …And… is she trying to give me back my memories?

I'm not sure whether to be scared or flattered.

She looked at me for a few seconds before speaking.

"Believe me."

I looked up at her as I heard these words and she seemed to… have the most earnest expression on her face… the kind that showed me that she truly was telling the truth.

I was about to speak again however she beat me to it.

"Haruhi Suzumiya has most likely become aggravated at the lack of my presence near her. This is something that I would wish to avoid."

She stood up silently and made her way to the door.

She turned around to face me. Seemingly unsure what to say.

I decided to speak instead.

"Did you have glasses before?"

She gave a tiny nod.

"Ah, I was just thinking that you look better without them."

Suddenly, my jaw almost dropped off as… I think… however it was ever so faint… a tiny… tiny… pink blush crossed her cheeks for a second.

"Thank you." She turned to face the door. "I truly hope that your memories of past data will return soon."

She then left.

I was surprised that I wasn't… well… surprised at what she had just said. I mean, wouldn't people normally freak out to something like this? It was like… I was used to this.

Good grief.

What the hell did my old self get up to?

Suddenly, seeing this as a good time as any, I looked to the chair beside me… there was a book there. It was a thick book, with kinda gothic looking English writing on the front of it.

Curious, I picked it up and flipped quickly through the pages… it was a really thick book with a small type-setting… maybe Nagato-san was reading it…?

Suddenly I felt something land on my lap. I looked down to see… a picture?

I picked it up slowly and cautiously… I then held it close to my face and looked at it.

I was in the picture… and I seemed to be at… a beach? I was in my swimming trunks… and… Nagato-san, that Suzumiya girl, and Asahina-san were all standing there, along with my sister in bikinis… (Except my sister and Nagato was in a swimsuit.) As I stared at Asahina-san in a bikini with her star-shaped mole (Don't ask me, I have NO idea how I knew that… I think…) I noticed someone else standing beside me… a guy.

He had light brown hair, which kinda covered his eyes and almost went down to his shoulders. He had a pretty good figure and his eyes looked… well… I'll put it this way. If I was a girl and I saw him, I would be having a nose-bleed on the floor right now. However, the one thing that pissed me off was how plastic his smile looked.

Wait… was this… Itsuki Koizumi? T…the guy who… I was… in a relationship with…? I could feel my cheeks heat up just at the thought of it.

Wow… I had to say… I must have been the envy of all the girls because of him… I grinned to myself as I continued to look at him… then suddenly… I felt in the pit of my stomach… pain…

…I wanted to see him… I… wanted to remember the times I spent with him and the rest of Suzumiya's stupid brigade… but why couldn't I remember…? I looked out the window to my right… the sun was setting now… heh…

I then looked back to the picture one last time… we looked like we had so much fun there… but… I couldn't remember… slowly and giving up, I looked down into my lap and placed the picture back in there. I then looked up to the door and froze.

A guy was standing there, with light brown hair completely covering his eyes as his head was lowered… a bit scarily. His hands were clenched into fists… and he was trembling.

As I continued staring at this guy he slowly looked up at me. And I felt my heart almost explode out of my chest.

His darkened eyes were filled with tears and he put a stupid, forced plastic smile on his face. He then spoke.

"Good evening, Kyon."

"I…. ITSUKI!"

* * *

><p>Yayyy! This chapter is now done x3 I hope you like it :D It was depressing and hard to write as amnesia Kyon ;w;' But... I hope he didnt go OOC... nor did the others... XD I also know this is a mean cliffhanger, but just bear with me XD I think this was a good place to end this chapter to start Kyon's confrontation of a depressed Itsuki while he has no idea who he is XD<p>

Hopefully I'll see you guys all soon~! x3 Oh yeah, and also another HUGE BIG thank you to SakuraDrops141 for posting this story on LiveJournal and supporting me along the way! :D

Bye bye~! See you soon x3

Elzah-Chan xx


	13. Love

******DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although I wish I did XD) And all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. But I do own Sugisaki :D But anyway, enjoy this chapter~! x3******

**Chapter 13**

I continued to stare at the guy who had just entered the room. He looked so familiar… too familiar…

…w-wait, did I just call him Itsuki?

It just kinda… got blurted out.

I really need to stop doing that.

As I slowly saw the guys eyes widen in what I guessed was probably shock of randomly saying some person's name to him, I tried to start speaking and bowed my head slightly.

"Ah, sorry I-"

I was cut off by him suddenly speaking.

"You remember me?"

I felt my heart skip a beat as I looked up at his face once more.

He had run over to the side of my bed, his eyes were full of hope and expectation… They also looked moist… like he was about to cry.

I looked at his face. Wow. This is a bit of an invasion of my personal space…

I suddenly got a headache and that dizzy feeling again.

I looked down to the side where the chair was and saw the book that Nagato-san left. As I gradually got my vision back I squinted slightly at the picture that she left.

The guy looked just the same as the one in the picture. I looked back up at the guy to confirm, who was looking back at me literally 10 centimetres away from my face.

I wonder if this guy even knows what personal space even is?

Suddenly, as I was about to explain myself, I stopped once again in shock.

This guy was suddenly hugging me.

I felt my arms go limp… like I hadn't done this in ages…. Almost like… I missed it?

...God, what was I like before I lost my memory?

The guy whispered in my ear as I felt warm droplets on my shoulder.

"I'm so relived… Kyon… I thought Sugisaki-san had made you forget all about me… and us…"

I froze, I felt my face flush up.

"H-huh?" I breathed.

"I told myself that… If you completely lost your memory I would never be able to forgive myself… I still can't… But with the past you still there… I know… I'll somehow be able to pull through… I know it may seem selfish but… I'm truly… so relieved."

My breath got caught in my throat as I slowly realised.

I had made a hideous mistake.

This wasn't me he was speaking to. He thinks that he is speaking to the… old version of me. The old one who knew him… and I guess the old one that loved him.

Normally I would have shoved a random guy who I had only just met away for doing something like this… but I… couldn't bring myself to…

There was so much… emotion in his words when he spoke. Like he truly meant what he said, but because of me being a blabbermouth… I made things even worse.

There was only one thing I could do now.

I slowly took the guys shoulders and pushed him away gently.

He looked at me, some tears were in his eyes still from the earlier emotion, but I could see in his eyes, some confusion and genuine concern at my movement.

He tilted his head slightly. "What's the matter, Kyon?"

I held my head down for a moment to control my breathing… I felt so bad though that it was difficult.

I took in a deep breath and spoke.

"I… I'm sorry but… I don't know who you are…"

A heavy silence fell upon the room. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating against my rib-cage.

I closed my eyes as I waited to a reply, but when it didn't come, I looked up.

I wish I hadn't.

His eyes had widened considerably as the amount of tears increased in them significantly. His mouth was slightly agape and he seemed at a loss for words.

I suddenly wanted to cry.

Now, I'm not a person who would normally cry. (At least I think I'm not.) But the look that he had on his face was so… desperate and …heartbroken… that you would have to be crazy to not feel absolutely destroyed when you saw it.

…I just felt… so bad.

"I'm… I'm sorry…"

I forced myself to speak once more.

This time, the guy actually responded… "No… No it's fine... I-I should be the one to apologise, that I suddenly came in here when you've actually just woken and suffering from…a-amnesia… And then I expected you to know everything…"

Even though he said it was fine, it was obvious that he wasn't. His voice was shaking throughout the whole of the sentence he just said and he had his hair covering his eyes so I couldn't see his facial expression.

The one thing that never moved was his stupid plastic smile though.

As he stood up to leave, I couldn't help but feel defeated. I sat up straight and opened my mouth to say something… but nothing came out… I just stood up and stared at him.

I saw his face for a brief moment… but for the moment I saw it, I actually felt terrified.

His eyes had suddenly lost all of their… life… they had darkened and it was almost like… he didn't want to… live…

He spoke. Only in a voice that sounded harsher than the one that he spoke in before, that was full of love.

"I apologise for disturbing you and confusing you. I'm going to leave you to get some rest now."

Then with a weak wave of his hand, he turned to leave.

"Good-bye, Kyon."

He started walking towards the door… I felt like I had to do something… but I couldn't bring myself to.

If I didn't do something… I felt like I would regret it for the rest of my life.

_What are you doing you idiot? Go after him!_

I heard a voice inside my head.

Then suddenly, without thinking, I reached out and grabbed the side of his sleeve. I felt pain shoot up my arm as the wires and other hospital equipment that was stuck into my arm got pulled and almost ripped out.

I yelped out in pain, causing the guy to look around with a look of alarm on his face.

"K-Kyon! What are you doing?"

He turned around to face me.

I gritted my teeth together.

"Look Itsuki, I may not know who you are, but that doesn't mean you have to give up!"

I felt like this wasn't me speaking… it was almost like I was someone else… because I thought I didn't know this guys name…

…But I guess… I was someone else before this.

"Even though I may not remember you… I know that the old version of me is still somewhere in here!" I pointed to my heart

"Believe me! I wish I still did have my memory!" I let go of his sleeve and put my face in my hands.

"I just wish… There was a way to remember…"

I could feel Itsuki's eyes staring at me… but I didn't want to look up.

"I'm sorry… but please… just don't leave yet… I'm sure there's a way! Nagato-san said that she's trying to help!"

I looked up hopefully. And all I saw was Itsuki giving a weak smile to me.

"Even though you lost your memory… you still… never lost your stubbornness…"

Tears started falling down his face, even though he was smiling.

I smiled back at him… I felt… weirdly happy for some reason…

"I love you Kyon."

He smiled at me.

Suddenly my vision darkened… but I still felt happy for some weird reason.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I felt my body sway as I started feeling numb…

I whispered a few more words.

"I…. love you too…"

Then everything went black again.

…

My body felt weightless… …

I could hear… an angry girl's voice… she seemed to be shouting at someone… but it was off in the distance…

"….Kyon… Come on…! …we need to search for… aliens… time-travellers…. And espers…!"

I slowly opened my eyes and as my eyes became accustomed to the light… I could see… a brown haired girl… she was speaking to… me…?

…she was speaking to another me… and I was watching them…

They couldn't see me…

I saw myself sigh.

"Haruhi… I told you this before… were not going to find anything… around the school…"

Suddenly I heard another voice… a cuter voice.

"Nagato-san… Would you like some green tea?"

I turned to the source of the voice and saw an adorable looking girl talking… without success to another girl… who had a polka face and was reading a book…

The other girl gave a quiet response.

"Yes…"

The cute girl smiled and handed her tea.

The whole scene here… relaxed me…

Then, I heard the class door open.

I looked towards the source of the sound, along with everyone else in the classroom and saw… a handsome looking guy standing there…

…I felt my heart against my rib-cage for some weird reason and my face flushed.

The guy spoke.

"I apologise for being late Suzumiya-san, I had to attend clean-up duty."

The girl, who he called Suzumiya-san, grinned back. "No problem Koizumi-kun, I was just saying to Kyon how we should go on a search for mysterious beings again!"

The Koizumi guy gave a stupid, obviously plastic smile to her. She didn't seem to notice though. "Is that so? Well, I'm sure that we will find some with your leadership skills, Suzumiya-san."

God, he was such a yes-man that it sickened me.

The Suzumiya girl grinned, before looking back to me. "See Kyon! You should be as loyal as Koizumi-kun is too!"

I replied back… only I seemed distracted. "Y…yeah… whatever…"

The Suzumiya girl, nodded after seeing my satisfactory reaction, then turned around and went to harass the cute looking girl instead who squealed in fear, the moment she saw her predatory eyes fall on her.

I looked back to me. The Koizumi guy spoke to me. "Good afternoon Kyon."

Now normally a guy would reply with good morning and be done with it… but I felt my cheeks flush up even more.

He was smiling at me… only it didn't look stupidly fake like his other ones… it seemed… so genuine…

The other me seemed to think so too as he blushed and looked to the side.

"Y…yeah good morning…"

After about 2 minutes of silence, the other me spoke again.

"W…wanna play Othello?"

The Koizumi guy smiled, and replied smoothly "Anything with you Kyon." Causing the other me's, and myself face to blush even more.

What was with this guy?

He was weird but…

…I missed him…

…why couldn't I remember him? Or the rest of the Suzumiya girl's group?

…I… wanted to… remember…

Everything then blacked out again…

…

My eyes snapped open.

There was a guy standing over me.

"KYON? …Kyon… are you okay…?"

He had an intense look of concern in his eyes… they were also watering slightly.

This guy… he…

"…Kyon? …I something wrong?"

"…What the hell are you doing Itsuki? What if Haruhi sees you like that?"

A silence fell on the room.

I got irritated as I waited for an answer.

"…Well…?"

I continued staring at Itsuki… and I was surprised to see… him start to cry?

"I-Itsuki? Are you okay? …If it's because I shouted at you I'm… sorry, okay?"

But Itsuki just whispered between sobs "You… remember me…?"

My brow furrowed slightly.

"Well yes, why wouldn't I…"

Then I remembered…

Sugisaki put some weird injection into me… did it make me lose my memory?

…But I remember everything…?

"Hey Itsuki… if Sugisaki injected me with some weird thing that made me lose my memory… then why do I-"

Suddenly I was pulled upright and was tightly embraced.

I felt my face flush up.

"I-ITSUKI! W-what the heck are you doing?"

Even though I rejected him verbally… I couldn't… reject him physically…

To be honest, it actually felt kinda nice.

"I apologise… I'm just… so… happy… that you remember me…"

He then paused and pulled himself back.

"W-wait… y-you do remember me right…?"

I sighed.

"Your name is Itsuki Koizumi. You're an esper who works for some annoying as shit agency who has an equally annoying as shit boss called Ken Sugisaki, who was the one who made me lose my memory in the first place. Your Haruhi's yes-man and she selected you for her stupid SOS brigade as you transferred half-way during the semester."

I inhaled.

Itsuki's eyes lit up as I spoke.

I then spoke again… reluctantly this time… but I… felt like I had to…

"…Your also… my… uh… b...boyfriend…"

I could feel my face flush up once again.

I looked up to face Itsuki…

And was met by his lips.

He was kissing me… and I guess… I was kissing him…

All of time seemed to stop.

After what felt about ages to me, we stopped…

He pulled back and smiled at me… and I… smiled slightly back…

Suddenly, Itsuki spoke again, his smile suddenly vanished.

"Kyon… I apologise, but after you felt like you have recovered, I require you to come into a closed space with me… It's to do with Sugisaki-san…"

The moment I heard the mention of his name… Sugisaki. I broke into a cold sweat… Of course I was gunna be scared of him after what he did to me… but I guess… I need to go and face him.

I gave a small nod. "Okay."

At my response, Itsuki gave a comforting smile.

"Don't worry Kyon, this time I will protect you."

He spoke them so sincerely that I couldn't help myself but to believe him.

I smiled at him, reassured. "Thank you."

Itsuki then stood up to leave. "Well then Kyon, I'll be seeing you tomorrow probably."

He kissed my forehead.

As he turned towards the door, I stopped him…

"Hey Itsuki… can you just… uh… stay here for a while?"

Itsuki turned around… he looked surprised at my sudden request… but then he smiled.

"Of course Kyon… I'll always be here for you."

* * *

><p>:D New chapter! There probably only going to be about 2 more I guess... or maybe more... I dunno XD But I hope this chapter lives up to you guys expectations!<p>

I'm going to stop putting Itsuki through mental torture soon! I swear! Dx

Also, guess who's coming back in the next chapter? Only the guy who you all hate! Sugisaki-san!

See you then~!

Elzah-Chan xx


	14. Return

********DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although I wish I did XD) And all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. But I do own Sugisaki :D But anyway, enjoy this chapter~! x3********

**Chapter 14**

After about 3 and a bit days in hospital, I was eventually discharged and was allowed to leave. The doctor's were confused about my sudden recovery, but after many tests, they soon dismissed it as a 'miracle'.

Heh… I wish.

I then found myself back in the classroom… it felt almost nostalgic.

However, unlike how I would normally enter the classroom, and sit down peacefully, I found myself swarmed by concerned classmates. One of the most surprising being Taniguchi.

He pushed his way through the crowd, all of whom were asking me questions about what happened and also stupid ones like 'How many fingers am I holding up?' As I tried to reply to all of their questions with weak smiles and 'I'm fine's', I noticed him standing next to me.

"Hey Kyon."

I looked to the side; I was kinda surprised to see that he hadn't hit me on the back yet or something.

"Taniguchi. I'm surprised you haven't hit me or something by now."

He looked hurt.

"Hey Kyon! I'm your friend too so it's only right for me to be concerned about you!"

I couldn't believe that he was concerned about me.

"Really?" I gave him a disbelieving look.

Taniguchi nodded back. "I'm serious! When Suzumiya," He jerked his hand towards her chair "Told us that you had amnesia and couldn't remember anyone, I was worried in case you had forgotten about me!"

The crowd had dispersed, seeing that I was now focused on my conversation with my 'friend.'

"What? She told you guys about me?"

Taniguchi looked surprised "Of course. I mean, she looked like she was on the brink of tears in class, and when I tried asking her what was wrong…cause she was freakin' me out a bit… she kinda just… exploded." He shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't seen her since."

I felt a little bit worried… but also… happy that Haruhi and everyone else were so concerned about me…

I hope that Haruhi is alright…

…I guess.

Suddenly, my concern quickly vanished into thin air as in the quiet clattering of the classroom; there was a loud and thundering "KYOONNNNNNNN!" Increasing in volume as it approached the outside of the class.

Recognising the voice immediately, my danger senses kicked in and I stepped away from the door.

Taniguchi however, being an idiot, didn't notice my reaction and stood there looking dumb like always.

The door slammed open, and an angry looking girl flew out and kicked Taniguchi straight in the face.

Taniguchi flew to the floor and skidded, before hitting and coming to a standstill beside my desk. However, I had no time to laugh at his pain as I realised… I could be in trouble.

I looked up, slightly gob-smacked at her sudden entrance to see Haruhi.

She stared at me.

I stared at her.

I heard Taniguchi groan but I ignored it.

She continued to stare at me, as the angriness subsided and was replaced with… relief?

I brought myself to smile.

"Hey Haruhi."

Suddenly, my hopefully happy reunion was ruined by the angry look reappearing on her face and she picked me up by my collar.

"KYON, YOU IDIOT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE IN SCHOOL TODAY?"

I actually forgot. But I couldn't say that.

"M…My phone was out of credit…"

It was a stupid excuse, bearing in mind that I could have used the house-phone. But surprisingly, she didn't react angrily. She stood on her tip-toes, and placed her hand on my fore-head.

"…Haruhi…?"

"Shut up. I'm checking to see if you have a temperature."

She removed her hand, seeming satisfied, and then spoke again.

"Open your mouth."

I opened it. Feeling scared.

She stood there in silence.

"Say 'ahh' you idiot!"

"A…ahh…?"

She looked away.

"I'm glad you're okay. It wouldn't do to have one of my brigade members being ill…" She nodded knowingly.

I smiled again.

"Thanks Haruhi."

She flinched. Before whipping her head away from me. I think she was blushing… But I wasn't sure.

It was probably just the light or something.

I then heard another voice from the classroom door.

"Hey! Kyon-kun!" It was another energetic voice.

It was followed by another, adorable voice. "…Kyon-kun…" I could hear emotion in the voice.

I looked back to the classroom door to see Tsuruya-san and Asahina-san.

Tsuruya-san grinned at me. "The moment we saw Haru-nyan sprinting to the classroom, we knew that you were back so we followed her!"

Her voice was so energetic that it made me feel tired.

I don't understand how Asahina-san can stand being around her for longer than 10 minutes.

Asahina-san spoke shyly, her eyes were watering "We were… all so worried about you Kyon-kun… I'm so… relieved…"

She started crying, but sniffed it back and smiled sweetly at me.

Yeah… she's cute enough to make me want to swoon.

Haruhi stood up proud again. "I'm especially glad because now you can wear your new outfit Mikuru-Chan! That way, the whole brigade can see it!"

Haruhi started sneaking over menacingly to Asahina-san, as Tsuruya-san followed her. "U fu fu fu… I'd like to see you wear it too…"

…I realised that the situation always becomes a lot worse when Tsuruya-san is around.

As Asahina-san's face became pale with fear and she gradually disappeared under Haruhi's and Tsuruya-san's shadows, I noticed another presence at the door. I knew who it was immediately.

"Nagato!" I couldn't help but smile when I noticed that she was there. I faced her. She looked at me.

"…The Data-Overmind is very pleased with your recovery. As is Haruhi Suzumiya. I personally, also feel relieved that your memory of past data has returned."

She spoke in a monotone voice, and her eyes seemed blank… but… for a split second… I saw the corner of her mouth move upwards slightly into a… smile…?

…She's definitely changing.

I then became aware of a dark aura coming from the rest of the room.

I turned to face the classroom to see… every single one of the guys staring daggers at me. The other girls were just laughing weakly.

I was confused for a moment as to why… then I realised.

I had 4 of the most attractive girls in the school surrounding me.

Taniguchi (Who had miraculously recovered) slid over next to me.

"Hey… Kyon…"

"…What?" I could feel my cheeks becoming hot with embarrassment.

"You are aware that the majority of the boys in this class now want you to both lose your memory again… and die a horribly painful death?"

I was silent for a moment.

"Yeah, I kinda got that."

I then heard another voice, it was Kunikida's.

"Wow Kyon, I'm seriously impressed." He spoke it kindly, he probably meant it too. But something about it pissed me off.

I turned to face the two of them. They were both smiling radiantly. Too radiantly for my liking.

Suddenly I was saved by the ringing school bell.

Tsuruya-san, who was in the middle of holding Asahina-san's arms, as Haruhi went for her chest stopped.

"Ah, we need to go… See ya later Kyon-kun, Yuki, Haru-nyan!" She then pulled the traumatised and silent Asahina-san out of the room, much to Haruhi's disapproval.

I turned to see that Nagato had also left. Silently.

…That's just like her…

As the girls left, so did the menacing aura, and I went to go sit down in my seat, with Haruhi following suit. We sat down, and sat through the rest of the lessons, just how we normally would.

…

A long day of lessons eventually came to an end.

I felt a finger prod my shoulder.

I didn't even have to think about who it was.

I turned around to see Haruhi standing up to go. She was holding out my bag for me…

"Come on, Kyon! We need to go to the SOS brigade!"

Wow… I felt like I hadn't been there in ages….

Probably because I hadn't been.

I brought myself to smile. "Sure."

Haruhi looked pleased at my reaction.

"Fu fu… I'm glad to see you looking so enthusiastic for once!" She nodded, satisfied with a grin on her face. She then stopped as a slightly smaller smile appeared and she spoke quietly for once…

"I'm glad that you're having fun…"

She spoke it quietly… like she was saying it just to herself rather than me.

I pretended I didn't hear it correctly.

"Huh?"

Haruhi's grin returned, as if it had never left. "Nothing! Let's go!" She then grabbed my hand and started pulling me there.

…I did still find this whole thing annoying… but right now, after all that had happened… I was happy about it for once…

…I wonder if as well as amnesia I got brain damage?

Suddenly, before I knew it, we were at the brigade room door. We had stopped outside it.

I could hear Asahina-san's heavenly voice, humming a quiet tune from inside. Suddenly, Haruhi spoke.

"You haven't been here for a while, have you?"

She looked at me and smiled… sweetly for once.

However before I could be surprised, the grin that made me nervous had reappeared and she turned to face the door.

Haruhi swung the door open majestically. "HELLO EVERYONE!"

I went to walk in but suddenly I was met by the noise of party-poppers.

I yelled in shock and looked up to see… the whole of the brigade wearing party hats (Plus Tsuruya-san, Kunikida and Taniguchi… however, the latter two were sitting looking out of place at the side.) and they were all smiling at me. (Aside from Nagato who was staring at me.)

I looked around the room which I hadn't been in for ages… All of Asahina-san's outfits looked the same, and so did the rest of the classroom… I saw the laptops and the computer that we both won and stole from the computer society that we never use, and also the Othello set that I always played with Itsuki…

As I thought of his name I looked up suddenly at everyone there.

As my eyes slowly scanned across their beaming faces… I saw Itsuki standing there… giving me a smile.

I suddenly blushed as our eyes met.

Thankfully, Haruhi jumped into my line of sight. "So? Watcha think?" She grinned, as she waved her arm around the room.

I looked up at the ceiling and there was a banner there… it read it beautifully round letters "Welcome back Kyon!"

I think it must have been written by Asahina-san… It looked like her kind of writing… but definitely not like the kind of writing that an ex-member of the calligraphy club would have had.

I then looked below it to see a cake. It was covered with white icing with strawberries dotted around the top of it. In chocolate sauce, in a similar handwriting style to the Haruhi's was written again 'Welcome back, Kyon!"

Seeing that I took note of the decorations, Haruhi nodded. "Yup, since I had only just learned that you were back today, I had to steal some paper from the calligraphy club," Asahina-san looked shocked to hear this. "And then I got Mikuru to write on it for me, because I was busy hunting down Tsuruya-san!"

Tsuruya-san, seeing this as her cue, appeared beside Haruhi nodding. "Mm-hm! Haru-nyan found me and asked me to help her bake a cake in the school kitchen!"

I didn't even know that we had a school kitchen.

Tsuruya-san scratched the side of her face. "But it was difficult…" She smiled weakly "I had to call people at my house to bring in the ingredients!"

Oh yeah, I forgot that she was rich… she probably had her maids bring it for her…

She turned around to face the cake. "But it turned out pretty well, didn't it Haru-nyan?"

Haruhi nodded and grinned, and then they went into their own little discussion, that I didn't really want to hear… it was probably about harassing Asahina-san again.

And so, the evening passed, with plenty of cake and sweet treats being eaten… and also lots of random games. One of my least favourites being 'Hunt down Mikuru' … It was Haruhi's idea.

It was eventually 5:00, and Haruhi decided to dismiss everyone.

She made a hasty exit, along with the others, saying that because it was 'my' party, I should be the one to clean it up.

…shouldn't it actually be the other way around?

But I didn't have any time to protest as everyone had vanished… except for Itsuki… which was when I realised I hadn't even spoken to him today.

I could feel a blush come across my cheeks and I forced myself to smile at him.

"H-hey Itsuki!"

I felt my voice stutter and I moved my eyes to the floor.

We were alone. In the clubroom. And it was dark outside. The dim light of the lamp on the ceiling caused the clubroom to have a warm… almost eerie glow.

I felt extremely nervous.

"S-shall we clean up? I mean it's a huge mess here right?" I was trying to avoid making eye contact with him as I walked by him. I turned to face the table and went to pick up the various slices of cake that were left lying there by the others.

I reached out to pick up one of the plates before I felt his hand on mine.

I felt my heart start racing.

I felt a shaky smile come across my face and I felt my hand become sweaty.

"Um… Itsuki, what are you doing?"

His grip tightened on my hand.

I didn't feel like myself.

"Kyon…"

I looked up "W-what is it-"

My eyes widened as I saw Itsuki's face right in front of me, before he leant into a kiss.

I blushed. I could feel my legs feel like they were turning into jelly.

I pulled back a bit and I felt Itsuki touch the side of my face.

I tried to hide my eyes with my fringe.

"Heh… what the hell are you doing, you idiot?"

My cheeks were burning.

But… it wasn't exactly like I disliked it.

Itsuki smiled. "I really missed you Kyon. I was so surprised when I heard you had returned today… I expected you to be back later…"

I smiled slightly, but tried to hide it.

"I had to try and control myself in front of Suzumiya-san when I was told you were back. It was difficult to keep a straight face…"

He smiled weakly at me. I sighed.

I then remembered.

"Wait… didn't you want to take me to see Sugisaki… o-or something?"

I felt nervous just thinking about it.

Itsuki nodded, with a grim expression on his face. "Indeed… he wishes to see you… I believe it's to try and sort this problem out once and for all…"

I looked down to the side. "…But last time, didn't he…"

Itsuki suddenly grabbed both of the sides of my head and made me face him.

My face was several centimetres away from his, and when I tried to look away, he held me there.

I forced myself to stare into his eyes.

They were deadly serious.

"I WILL protect you. Please remember that we are going to be inside a closed space, so I will have full access to my abilities if …something… happens…"

I continued to stare at him. And his facial expression didn't change.

He was serious.

And it comforted me that he was.

"…Okay… Let's go…"

I nodded at him.

He pulled my forehead towards mine and rested his on it.

We stood there together, our heads resting on one another's foreheads… it was comforting… but embarrassing…

I just wanted to stay like this forever…

But we couldn't… because I had to talk to Sugisaki.

If I was ever going to settle this.

* * *

><p>Yay! I finally finished this chapter! ...It actually took me ages to upload this because I had a bunch of exams and stuff TwT But, I am back now!<p>

I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! Itsuki wasn't in it so much, but I just wanted to re set the scene XD

But right, see ya guys in the next chapter! Sorry again for any OOCness XD Oh, And please review and spread please! It makes me supa happy! w


	15. Protection

********DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Although I wish I did XD) And all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. But I do own Sugisaki :D But anyway, enjoy this chapter~! x3********

**Chapter 15**

Itsuki and myself walked down the corridor outside the clubroom. I was lingering a couple of steps behind him, allowing him to lead the way.

The only noise was a crow outside and our footsteps.

I asked myself what the hell I was doing again.

Why the heck would I go to see Sugisaki again after what he did to me?

I mean… didn't he try to completely erase my memory?

…But… if he's still harassing Itsuki… I guess that I just had to do this… to finish this stupid game of cat and mouse once and for all.

I looked at the back of Itsuki's head. His chocolate brown hair bobbed up and down as he walked. He seemed deadly serious about what he said earlier so I didn't really feel scared about myself…

I was more scared in case Sugisaki did something to Itsuki.

I then saw Itsuki take his phone out. He flipped it open… and I listened in.

He walked in silence for a few moments before it seemed that someone picked up.

"Hello? It's me."

He spoke in a weird voice. It was… different to his usual one.

"Can you tell Sugisaki that we're going to the closed space now? …Thanks." He hung up.

I realised that he lost the '-san' at the end… I don't blame him.

He turned around to face me.

"Well, I've just gotten a messenger to notify Sugisaki for me." He spoke in his normal voice again… but it still had a serious tone.

He looked out the window. "I believe that the closed space is in a similar place to the last one you were in… we need to go to the school field."

He turned around and smiled at me "Shall we?"

I nodded as I swallowed nervously and followed him down the staircases leading towards the field, which was pretty close to the running track where I went with Nagato to a closed space last time.

Heh… seemed like it was ages ago now…

We went to about the middle of it until Itsuki suddenly stopped, causing me to quickly stop behind him.

"The entrance is here…" Itsuki then muttered to himself something inaudible.

I looked around… I couldn't see anything… however before I could wonder what Itsuki could see with his weird esper 'vision' which he probably had, I noticed that he was holding his hand out to me.

"Are you ready?"

He was giving me a serious look. But there was determination in his eyes.

"Yeah…"

I held my hand out and placed it in his, which he grabbed tightly. I closed my eyes.

Darkness. The only thing I could feel was the warmth of Itsuki's hand, guiding me…

It felt… weirdly comforting…

I then felt a small tug at my hand. "You can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes and saw the grey world which I was now growing familiar with.

"So…' I spoke. "We're in the closed space now?"

Itsuki nodded. "Indeed…' He nodded towards the school roof. "I believe that we are meeting Sugisaki up there."

I followed his eyes and looked at the roof. "Okay… let's go…" I muttered.

Itsuki gave a weak smile and started to lead the way… giving me a slight pull on my hand.

I had only just realised that we were still holding hands.

I blushed furiously… But I couldn't bring myself to pull my hand away… The closed space was cold, windless and eerie… he seemed to be the only source of warmth here.

We finally reached the stairs leading up to the school roof… you would have normally have needed keys to get up here… but the door was already open, so we went straight up.

We were about to walk through the door leading onto the roof, still holding hands, when we heard a chilling voice.

"Hello you two."

We weren't even on the roof yet, and how the voice recognised us was beyond me…

I suddenly realised that my feet had stopped moving. I felt myself become pale and my heart start beating faster…

I only just realised how… terrified I was of seeing Sugisaki again.

Itsuki went to walk in, before realising that I had stopped. He turned, with an expression of concern on his face… which was soon replaced by a sad smile.

"Kyon…" He hushed his voice down to a whisper. "Don't be afraid… I'm here with you… and I will protect you."

I grinned weakly "Heh… you idiot, don't get so high and mighty about it…"

Itsuki gave a weak laugh before placing his hand on my cheek and smiling softly… I couldn't help myself but lean into it… and cursed myself for doing so afterwards and blushed deeply.

I nodded my head. "Alright… let's do this…"

Itsuki returned my nod, and with a firmer grip on my hand, led me onto the school roof.

There was no wind… it was just… dark… But we could still clearly see the outline of a person standing about 10 feet away from us.

"Finally decided to show up did you?" We could hear him sneer as he spoke.

I flinched… I think Itsuki sensed this and tightened his grip on my hand. "Sugisaki." It was Itsuki who spoke.

Sugisaki, upon hearing his name turned around. He was grinning… but in a mocking way… His raven black hair still covered one of his violet eyes and he, as always, had his completely black school uniform on.

He looked at the both of us. I tried to keep eye contact with him… but I was so nervous that I struggled to. I saw the side of Itsuki's face not move at all, as he continued to glare at Sugisaki.

Sugisaki crossed his arms. "What is this Koizumi-kun? Did you forget to add a certain honorific to the end of my name?"

"No I didn't. You don't deserve any respect from me Sugisaki." Itsuki almost spat the sentence out at Sugisaki.

Itsuki's voice had gone to that weird sounding one again… it was cool but harsh at the same time…

Sugisaki's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing once more. His uncovered eye twitched once in anger as his grin faltered. "And why exactly is that Koizumi-KUN?"

Itsuki stared at me for a moment… before his eyes darkened… becoming shadowed by his fringe.

"Because… you fucked around with my boyfriend…" I was shocked beyond words. I had never heard Itsuki I knew use that kind of language before… ever. Not even the usual curse such as 'crap' or 'damn.' He never said anything like that. It scared me slightly… but also made me weirdly happy that he was so angry at Sugisaki for me…

His voice suddenly became extremely harsh and low… it sounded dangerous. "And I will NEVER forgive you for that."

Itsuki's dark eyes stared into Sugisaki's, his vision never looking away. Sugisaki did the same for about 10 seconds, before getting a disinterested look on his face. He turned his head to face me instead.

"Kyon-kun."

I jumped a little upon him hearing my name, and cursed myself for doing so afterwards. Normally I would have said something smart… but I just couldn't bring words out of my mouth.

Sugisaki seemed to notice this and his grin widened.

"How are you feeling after your slight… but unfortunate… case of amnesia?" He said 'unfortunate' sarcastically…

I gritted my teeth and forced words out of my mouth.

"Thanks to my friends I feel a lot better." I forced myself to glare at him. I felt a sweat drop roll down the side of my face.

He sneered. "Friends…? Is that so…?"

I nodded firmly. "Yeah."

Sugisaki looked at me for a second, before laughing softly to himself… he was creeping me out.

"So… have you reconsidered yours and Koizumi-kun's… relationship…?"

I immediately refused. "No. I'm… gunna stay with Itsuki… and you can't change that."

I was blushing. It was so embarrassing to say that to someone…

Sugisaki seemed to grit his teeth together for a moment, and then turned his head to Itsuki.

"And what about you? Koizumi-kun?" His voice had gone to that weird low one again… the one that scared me.

Itsuki swallowed once. "No matter what you do… even if you are my boss. I will always be with Kyon, and I will always be by his side." He squeezed my hand gently as he spoke, as if he was putting emphasis on his words.

I started blushing even more… idiot.

Sugisaki let out a cough… which sounded more like a laugh as he smirked. "…Is that so…? Well… I really guess I should just accept this now…"

He held out his hand, his palm outstretched.

It confused me. But I felt Itsuki flinch for a moment… Did he want to take my hand or something?

He then whispered to himself, so quietly as if he never intended for us to hear him.

"But that would be way too boring."

Suddenly, a red sphere started forming in his hand. I recognised it immediately. He was using his esper powers.

But before I could react, Itsuki had already grabbed my arm. "DUCK!"

He pulled me down with him as a red sphere sped past where I was standing a few moments ago… it would have been a clean hit.

Itsuki looked up at Sugisaki. "Sugisaki! Stop it! You're never meant to use your powers against a human!"

Sugisaki cocked his head to the side. On his face was a look of obviously faked 'innocent confusion.' "Oh, But I wasn't aiming at Kyon-kun…"

He pointed behind us. I felt an increasing amount of dread as I slowly turned around to see… a celestial.

I had forgotten all about them.

I went to look at Itsuki, who looked back at me with an increasing look of alarm.

Suddenly, without my consent… I found myself surrounded by red light, in Itsuki's arms… in a princess like position.

We were flying upwards.

"GAH! I-ITSUKI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" I was blushing. It was such an awful way for me to be carried.

Itsuki finally came to a standstill above the celestial. "What does it look like?" We were both panting from both the fear, and adrenaline rush.

I looked down upon the celestial… it was about as tall as the school building… but about a fifth of its width.

It slowly looked up towards us and raised its arm. We darted away onto the school running track. We were pretty far away from it now.

Itsuki eventually landed and gently placed me down, the red light fading as he too touched the ground.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded nervously. "Yeah… but where is-"

Before I could finish, a certain someone landed about 10 metres away from us.

"You've probably figured it out by now, but I REALLY, desperately, need you two to separate. I mean, we will never see Haruhi Suzumiya's full potential if you two are together. Also… I don't believe she'll be very happy about it…"

As he spoke, his pupils became smaller as he summoned two more red balls in both of his hands, and threw them towards me.

"Maybe I can try to convince you again to split?"

This guy really needs to learn when to give up.

Itsuki sped In front of me. He took caught both of the red spheres in his hands like balls, before throwing them back at Sugisaki… who gracefully flew out of their flight path. He quickly summoned more as Itsuki did the same.

He shouted back to me over the weird electrical noises the balls were making. "Kyon! Make sure you stay right behind me!"

Ha… this kinda reminds me of something else like this which happened to me…

"Koizumi-kun! Why not just separate with Kyon willingly? It'll make things MUCH easier for me!" Sugisaki was shouting above the noise, irritation and impatience clearly showing in his voice.

"You wish!" Itsuki was speaking in a voice that I never heard him use before… it kinda made me scared…

I saw Sugisaki grit his teeth as he summoned at least 10 other red balls around him and threw his hands forward, sending them hurtling towards us.

Itsuki grabbed my arm in the most awkward way possible and pulled me up with him as we flew upwards again.

As we briefly came to a standstill, we realised that the red balls were homing in on us. I heard Itsuki speak in my ear as he pulled me closer to him.

"Tch… hang on tight."

I did as he said and gripped onto his blazer as tightly as I could. Suddenly, all I could see were the buildings of the school speeding by us so fast, they were a blur.

I looked up at Itsuki. He had a look of determination plastered across his stupid face as his hair blew back behind him.

I heard an explosion. Shocked, I looked behind to see what it was. It was several of the red balls colliding with a building… we had just gone through a very thin gap.

Itsuki kept doing this until I could no longer see the balls chasing us. I loosened my grip slightly.

I think Itsuki noticed this and we slowed down. As we hovered he looked around. "Right… let's go to the school hall… I think it'll take Sugisaki a while to find us there…"

We floated over to the roof of the school hall before gently landing on the floor, sheltered behind the staircase, which stuck out on top.

Itsuki placed me down, landed, and then went over to me in order to ensure that I was okay.

"You weren't hurt anywhere were you?" He held onto my shoulders. He gripped them slightly.

I shook my head "No…' I noticed a weary look in his eyes. "…Are you okay?"

As I said that, he collapsed onto my shoulder.

"Itsuki? I-Itsuki! Are you alright?"

Was this guy gunna die again!

Itsuki gave a little sigh. It warmed my shoulder slightly. "I'm fine… I'm just tired… Using my powers does consume a lot of energy after all…" He looked up at me "But, as long as I can protect you… I'll do whatever I can."

I felt my cheeks flush up again. That idiot. Why does he keep saying those kind of lines as if there nothing?

We then sat there in silence. Me looking at the back of Itsuki's head as he rested in my shoulder. I wondered to myself… what if Sugisaki really did find a way to separate us? Would we just continue life how we used to before, with Itsuki being Haruhi's constant yes man, and me always getting pissed off with him? …Would I get together with Haruhi instead? …No, I told myself straight away that I wouldn't. I didn't like her in that kind of way. Whenever I thought about life without Itsuki… and me… like… this… It upset me. Life would be… somehow duller without me being with him… despite the whole alien, time-traveller, gods and esper thing.

Why do I always have embarrassing internal monologues at a time like this?

I tapped Itsuki lightly on the shoulder. He stirred, acknowledging me. "Hey Itsuki, what are we gunna do when Sugisaki finds us?"

Itsuki sighed once more. "I know I should be worried… but I'm not concerned at all… like I know… it's all going to be all right."

I was slightly surprised for a moment before grinning. "Heh… same here."

Itsuki pulled back from my shoulder and looked at me… a sweet smile upon his face. "I'm glad."

I grinned sheepishly back.

Wow. This would be a typical time for someone to kill the mood.

"Well. I can tell you one thing."

We both flinched. That was Sugisaki speaking. We listened, not moving.

"Everything is NOT going to be alright!"

"KYON! LOOK OUT!" I felt myself being pushed to the floor and Itsuki on top of me as an electrical ball flew over our heads.

As I heard Itsuki panting. I decided I had had enough.

I shouted at the top of my voice over the electrical noises that were coming from the other side of the roof. "SUGISAKI JUST STOP!"

I heard the electrical noise stop. I had his attention.

"And why should I do that Kyon-kun?' He seemed to think for a moment before adding on 'Oh, and don't attempt this foolish 'john smith' rubbish again. Suzumiya-san isn't even present in these closed spaces. I NEED you two to split up. That way, as I've said before, we can see Suzumiya-san's true potential."

I heard him start making more electrical balls. "SUGISAKI! After all of the stuff you've done, none of it has worked! You've tried asking, forcing and hurting and none of them have worked! Can't you just see that no matter what you do we aren't going to split?"

There was silence.

"But I NEED you to split… I… NEED YOU TO SPLIT!" I stuck my head out from behind the shelter, ignoring Itsuki's pleas.

Sugisaki's arms were down by his sides. They were clenched, along with his teeth… both his eyes were covered by his fringe.

"If I don't make you split… I'll never… I'LL NEVER GET TO SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN!"

My eyes widened.

What the hell? I asked for a reason. Not your life story.

"What are you talking about Sugisaki?" I yelled. He was probably lying knowing him.

Sugisaki brought a hand to his face… like he didn't want us to see him. "I was forced into the agency 3 years ago when my power was awoken by… Suzumiya-san…" He seemed to speak her name with… detest? "They said it was for the best. The only reason I didn't go insane was because of the support they gave me… and they said I needed to pay them back. So… I had to leave my family, and work full time, observing the other members of the agency…" He smiled weakly "I remember how when I tried to run away once… I was stopped rather violently…"

Sugisaki took in a deep breath… he was clearly trying to control his breaths so they stayed stable.

"They said that… if I get you two to split… I can go back to my home-town and see my family again.' He gave a horribly weak laugh… he sounded like he was breaking down. "That is the only thing I wish for…"

He looked up at us with darkened eyes. "It's not like I want to.' He whispered to himself. "I have to."

…

Both Itsuki and myself stood in stunned silence. We never expected that kind of thing to come out of a mouth such as Sugisaki's.

"…Sugisaki-san…" I heard Itsuki speak quietly. He sounded upset. I noticed that he had added the '-san' on again.

Sugisaki sighed. "That has been the motivation behind my actions… please… I'm begging you at this point. Please split."

I was about to speak "Sugisaki I-"

I was suddenly cut off by Itsuki shouting at the top of his voice.

"SUGISAKI MOVE!"

Sugisaki's eyes widened as the giant arm of a celestial thundered down onto where he had been standing, ripping off the entire side of the building. As the dust rose… Sugisaki had vanished.

I was about to yell to Itsuki but I didn't have to. He was already in his red ball speeding towards the celestial. He spun around both of its arms and they slid off, like he had cut them with a sword.

I ran towards were Sugisaki had been standing… it was more out of impulse than anything. I looked around and stood at the crumbling edge where the side of the school hall had been a couple of seconds ago.

I looked down. It was at least 2 stories high… thankfully I wasn't scared of heights.

Suddenly, I saw a hand, gripping onto the crumbling side to the right of me. I sprinted over as fast as I could towards it. "Sugisaki!"

I knelt down beside the hand and looked over the edge. Sugisaki's beat up body was hanging over the side. As he saw me come over to the side he grinned.

"Ah Kyon-kun." He coughed, he was obviously in pain "F-fancy meeting you here…"

I rolled my eyes before grabbing onto his hand. But as I did so I felt Sugisaki tense.

"Just drop me."

I froze for a moment. Before resting again slightly.

"Heh. If I do that, then you'll just fly away."

The sad look on Sugisaki's face never left. "Just please… it's the only way I can make up for what I've done…" He smiled weakly "And I believe it's the only way that you'll be happy… that way… I won't have to pester you to split up with Koizumi-kun…"

He let go of my arm as I tried to keep a firm grip on his. "I'm not dropping you." I said firmly. I mean, I understood that he tried to make me lose my memory, but I still wouldn't be able to live with his death on my mind.

We heard an explosion and looked up to see the celestial start falling apart… Itsuki was doing a good job alone…

A part of the celestial destroyed some of the floor beside me.

Sugisaki shouted again. "Kyon-kun! Save yourself and Koizumi-kun and get out of here!"

I gritted my teeth. "I said NO! Now come on! Grab on!

"Please! This is the only way I will be able to properly see my family again!"

I froze again… wait… so they were all dead?

"Why did you…"

Sugisaki spoke in a hurry. "I wanted to visit their graves but the agency wouldn't let me." He was becoming increasingly aware of the celestial which was falling apart. "KYON, JUST DROP ME!"

I was at a loss.

I loosened my grip on Sugisaki's hand more. If I dropped him… he would be able to see his family again… and I could be with Itsuki without any worry…

But I couldn't live with his death on my conscious.

I gripped his arm tightly once more as more parts of the celestial fell down around us.

"You wish."

I pulled up as tightly as I could, much to Sugisaki's clear surprise.

I gripped him with both of my arms as I pulled him up onto the roof. The sudden release of his weight caused me to fall on the floor.

Sugisaki also fell onto the roof-top, before going onto all fours… he was… trembling. "…You saved me… WHY WOULD YOU SAVE ME?"

Sugisaki gritted his teeth as the floor beneath his face became stained by drops of tears. "Why are you so stubborn? WHY MUST YOU REFUSE EVERYTHING I DO? I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO GET YOUR OWN BACK AND YOU JUST SHOVE IT IN MY FACE!"

He was shouting at the top of his voice, it cracked towards the end of it as he was reduced to sobs…

It had finally all collapsed on him.

He spoke silently. "Now I'll never get to see my family again…"

I made my way slowly over to him… he flinched slightly as he heard me approach.

I then nervously, in case he ripped it off or something placed in on his shoulder. "Sugisaki."

He looked up.

"It's all gunna be fine."

…It was the only thing I could say at this point.

I mean… I couldn't just leave him… that would make me worse than him…

"Kyon-kun…"

Suddenly we heard a noise like glass shattering. We looked up. As the last piece of the celestial fell, so did the sky. We found ourselves soon being bathed in the cold winter sunset.

I looked to the side to see Itsuki standing beside us. He looked at me with a sad expression. I shrugged my shoulders at him.

All of a sudden, someone's phone went off, making us all jump. Sugisaki flinched and fumbled for his pocket. He looked at the caller ID and grimaced. He then pressed the accept button.

"H-Hello boss…"

I could hear the boss's voice from where I was sitting. He had one of those loud booming voices.

"Sugisaki-kun! Did you deal with the little problem between Haruhi Suzumiya's key and Koizumi-kun?"

Oh, so they all call me that do they?

Sugisaki was about to open his mouth as I grabbed the phone off him, stood up, and walked off with it.

"Yo." I spoke.

"Who's this?"

"I think you, of all people should know who this is."

The guy on the other side was silent.

"So. What's this about not letting Itsuki and Sugisaki see their families?"

I could hear Sugisaki getting up and Itsuki approaching me. I started walking down the stairs on the roof to get down from the school hall. I needed to keep a distance from them…

"I didn't want them to be distracted from their work…"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you think it'll distract them more if you don't let them see them?"

The man on the other side gave a wheezy chuckle. "Well then, in that case think of it as… motivating my workforce."

What a bastard.

"Well, can you let them see their families?"

"No. Why should I do that?" The voice on the other side was cocky.

I suddenly saw someone who I never expected to see around the school at this hour.

"Hey Haruhi."

She turned around as she heard her name and frowned upon seeing me. "What are you doing here this late Kyon?"

"I should ask you the same question."

Haruhi stuck her nose up at me. "If you must know, I left one of my school books in the classroom. I needed to collect it."

The voice on the phone was breathing heavily.

"Hey Haruhi, did you know that this guy won't let Koizumi see his family?" I pointed to the phone.

Haruhi looked surprised for a moment before a clear look of anger appeared on her face. "What! Why is he doing that to my deputy brigade chief?"

Oh yeah, I forgot he had that ranking.

"Beats me."

I felt glad that Haruhi believed me so easily as she suddenly yanked the phone off me as I grinned. She put him on speaker.

"HEY YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU MORON!"

The man sounded terrified. Hah… I bet he's never had a conversation with 'god' before.

"S-S-S-Suzumiya-san… P-P-Please…"

She held the phone at a distance and was literally screaming into it.

"YOU'LL REGRET MESSING AROUND WITH ANY OF MY BRIGADE MEMBERS!"

She then brought up the phone to her mouth and whispered murderously. "Let him see his family."

I could hear the man shaking from the other side. "A-As you wish, S-S-S-S-Suzumiya-san…"

He suddenly hung up.

Haruhi gritted her teeth. "DON'T HANG UP ON ME YOU-" Haruhi was silent. "…He hung up on me."

I tried to stifle a laugh but failed. She blushed before turning up to face me. "What are you laughing at?"

I shook my head "No, No, nothing…" I couldn't let her know that I was laughing AT her.

I heard voices approaching suddenly. "KYON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Was that… Itsuki…?

As I turned around I felt someone hit me over the head. "Kyon! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Don't speak to my boss in that matter!"

I looked up to see Itsuki frowning down on me.

"Itsu… I mean, Koizumi… sorry…" I never expected him to get angry.

It was weirdly… cute…?

I felt my ears become red at what I just said.

I looked up at him. "But now you guys can see your family!"

Itsuki stopped as his eyes widened. "What…?"

I jerked my head over to where Haruhi was standing. Itsuki looked shocked for a moment as he noticed Haruhi was standing there. Suddenly he tried to do his plastic smile.

"Suzumiya-san… My sincerest apologies, I-I didn't notice you were there."

She looked surprised for a moment at Itsuki's sudden and… aggressive appearance but then rolled her eyes. She didn't seem concerned at all as to why Itsuki was also here… or maybe she just chose to ignore it?

"It's fine… but Koizumi-kun, next time you're having troubles like that, Tell me and I'll do my best to help, 'kay?" She stuck her finger at him causing him to move backwards slightly. "I can't have my deputy brigade chief being troubled!"

Itsuki's plastic face melted into that of surprise, before turning into happiness. "Thank you… Suzumiya-san and Kyon…"

Haruhi gave a shrug. "Don't worry about it!" She suddenly looked surprised "Oh yeah! I need to go get my books! See you two on Monday!"

She turned on her heel and sprinted up the stairs 2 at a time.

Her energy was impressive.

I turned to face Itsuki. "Where's Sugisaki?"

He gave a weak smile. "He left… He said that he had some things to do…"

I handed the phone back to him. "Well, can you give this back to him? Oh, and tell him he can see his family too."

Itsuki nodded before giving me another smile. "Of course." He took the phone off me.

He then placed his hand around the back of my head and kissed my forehead.

I pulled back, surprised. "W-What are you doing?"

Itsuki smiled once again at me "Thank you so much, Kyon."

I blushed and looked to the side. "N-No problem…"

That idiot. Doesn't he know that all of this blushing isn't good for me?

* * *

><p>OMG I FINALLY UPDATED :'D I thought i'd make this a super long chapter this time 8D But, I'm rushing to write this author's note because I'm about to go out so sorry if there's any mistakes in the story! (I hope there isn't though .)<p>

Also... yeah there's some OOCness here, but a story wouldn't get anywhere without it, right? Also... yeah, I think we'll learn a bit more about Sugisaki in the upcoming chapters :3 That's right I've thought of even more to write, so it isn't ending ... soon... XD

See ya in the next chapter~! w -ElzahChan ;3 xx


	16. Reborn

****DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa. The only character I own is Sugisaki. ****

****I apologise for the ridiculously long hiatus, but there will be more details regarding that at the end of the chapter. Enjoy! ****

**Chapter 16**

Following the events of that day, life went back to normal.

…Well, normal for me that is.

Haruhi continued running her stupid brigade, forcing us to harass the computer society, Asahina-san's innocence, and making us infamous not only in the school but in the local community.

It was embarrassing, but I couldn't stop her.

Nagato continued silently working her way through the local library's collection of books. Although she never seemed to comment about it, I most frequently saw her reading sci-fi books, her eyes scanning a page for about 3 seconds before she moved on to another. Apparently the librarians were amazed at how many books she was taking out.

Asahina-san continued to make tea for us, occasionally trying out different flavours and profusely apologising if Haruhi didn't like it. (However in my opinion, she could even make water taste like wine from the Gods.) She had also become surprisingly into dressing up for Haruhi. I took note of how she resisted less and less when she tried to dress her. Either she had given up with uselessly fighting back Haruhi, or she had actually started to like it.

Either way, I had no complaints.

And Itsuki… …Well, Itsuki continued being Haruhi's right hand man. However, he was now much more inclined to not say yes to every single one of her ridiculous suggestions. Instead, he provided her with alternatives (Which were quite frankly often even worse than the original idea.) or even reasoned with her. And Haruhi was surprisingly compliant. Ever since I got out of hospital, she acted a little (But only a little) gentler. Maybe she finally realised what was important to her and wanted to keep them close.

However, not everything had returned entirely to how it used to be. Itsuki and I were still (Much to my embarrassment) dating, and Haruhi had eventually accepted this fact. (However, not without many difficulties. Itsuki had to run off into closed spaces on several occasions to stop Haruhi's rampages, and the world almost came to an end five times according to Nagato.) Although at first she seemed angry and upset, she eventually just shrugged it off. She even provided us with two tickets to an amusement park on one occasion.

I think she wanted us to be happy.

But then again with Haruhi, I'm never too sure.

One abnormally warm spring afternoon, another interesting event took place. I was sitting on the sofa, reluctantly watching a documentary about alligators with my little sister when my phone went off.

"Kyon-kun, phone!" My sister chimed as I rolled my eyes.

I had the phone just on the table in front of me. She really didn't need to tell me it was going off, but it was a habit that she had picked up ever since last summer. "I know, I know..." I grumbled as I moved to pick it up. Looking at the caller ID, it was an unknown number.

I sighed.

My first normal thought would go to the idea that it was one of my friends with a new phone, or even a telemarketer. However, I knew at this point that my life wasn't normal, so I braced myself for whatever dumb thing I was going to be speaking to on the other end.

I pressed the button to pick up and held the receiver to my ear, "...Hello?"

Although I was bracing myself for an alien voice, I was caught completely off-guard by someone else's voice. Someone's who I thought I would never hear from again.

"Hello, Kyon."

I was silent for a moment as my sister stared at me, trying to figure out who I was talking to. If it was Haruhi, she wanted to be invited to go out with them.

"…Sugisaki."

"Ah, you recognised me from my voice?" He sounded a little cheerful, but also exhausted. "I'm surprised…"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This guy really did give me the creeps. "Yeah, I'm surprised too. How'd you get my number?"

"It was saved in the database… everyone in the agency has your number."

Wow, I sure am glad I know that.

"…Great." I sighed again. "What do you want? I thought you were done with me and Itsuki."

"Actually I…" I heard an engine from his side of the phone. He was in a car. "…I wanted to make a request to you."

I narrowed my eyes. Although his voice was considerably softer than when he had spoken to me before, he still gave me the creeps. "…That depends on what the request is." I kept my voice firm, but internally, I was honestly a bit scared.

Sugisaki was quiet for a moment. He was trying to find the right words, and I heard him click his tongue in thought. "…I want you to come see my family with me."

My eyes widened, much to my sisters interest, who sat even closer to try and hear what was being said, her side ponytail bouncing up and down slightly as she did so.

I attempted to move away from her, to no avail as she continued tailing me. "…Why do you want me to come with you?" I silently mouthed to my sister to back off, to which she grinned mischievously and shook her head.

I don't know how I put up with her.

But then again, I'm able to put up with Haruhi.

My attention was drawn away from her as Sugisaki spoke once more in a soft, low voice. He was being careful with what he said, clearly not wanting me to freak out and say no, "…Because you're one of the only people who know." There was a brief silence. "….And I don't want to go by myself…"

"Oh…" That was all I could say as I stood there like a moron (With my sister pulling at my shirt.)

Why should I go with him? He did nothing to me that I need to pay back.

_But he's all alone._

Yeah, well he brought that upon himself.

_If it was you, you wouldn't want to go alone either, would you…?_

…

_Just go. _

What if he tries something again?

_Then stop him. You're stronger than him outside a closed space. _

And what about Itsuki?

_Don't tell him. He'll only get worried, and he's stressed out enough as it is. You can do this by yourself. Don't rely on him, you idiot._

Wow, Thanks for calling me an idiot, sub-conscious.

"Fine." I was too exhausted to think of an excuse anyway. And besides it might be useful to know more about him.

"Ah wonderful…" He let out a small chuckle, "I was hoping you would say yes anyway… because I'm already here."

"What?!"

I heard a knock at the door and turned to look in its direction.

My sister also looked before moving to skip to it, "I'll get the door…"

I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her behind me. "No. I'm getting it."

I didn't want her getting involved with him.

…Either that or I didn't want her seeing him so she could spread any more dumb rumours about me.

I quickly looked at myself in the mirror, feeling like a 16 year old girl as I checked my hair was okay. The fringe was getting long… I needed to cut it at some point.

I was wearing a teal sweater with black jeans. It was comfortable and looked pretty okay on me.

I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. I was checking myself out like I was about to go out with Itsuki or something.

…Except the guy who I was going out with today was potentially a psycho.

I quickly pushed these thoughts aside, moving to open the door. I turned the knob quickly and slowly pulled it open. I was met by the slight smile of Sugisaki.

"Good Afternoon, Kyon."

I noticed he stopped calling me 'Kyon-kun.' …Which was good. I guess.

"…Hey."

My sister suddenly pushed forward, speaking loudly, "Hey Kyon, who's that? Ooooh, he looks cool!" She moved in front of me as I tried to pull her back.

"U-Uh… sorry, this is my little sister…" I gritted my teeth in frustration as she tensed her muscles and planted herself to the floor so I couldn't move her.

However, much to my surprise, instead of recoiling back in disgust as the normal douchebag Sugisaki would have done, he knelt down in front of her, becoming at eye level to her.

"Hello, young lady." He gave her a warm smile as he brushed his fringe out of his eye. It was the first time I had seen both of his dark purple eyes.

…He looked a lot better without that dumb fringe.

My sister, who wasn't expecting this man to be a gentleman, moved back little bit to me, blushing, "…Hello…" She giggled slightly as Sugisaki took her hand and gave it a small kiss on her knuckles.

Wow, gross.

I understood that he was trying to do the whole 'princely man' act … but I was personally very disturbed by it.

"Do you mind if I took your brother out with me…? We have much do both do and discuss."

My sister nodded quickly, "…Y-Yeah… of course!"

I was surprised at how quickly she agreed. Normally she would insist to come with us.

…I thought briefly about trying the princely man act myself on my sister… but I then realised that that would just be uncomfortable for both parties involved.

"Thank you very much." He gave her another charming (creepy) smile before standing up straight, looking to me. "There is a car waiting to take us there… is that all right?"

I nodded, pulling my sister back in to the house, "Yeah, whatever…" I looked to her. "I'll be back later okay?" I was met with a dreamy nod.

…Great, now my sister has a crush on Sugisaki.

I moved out of the house, closing the door quickly behind me before looking to him, "Okay, what the hell was that?"

"What do you mean?" Sugisaki looked at me with mild confusion on his face as his fringe fell slowly to cover his eye again.

"I mean that dumb prince act you just pulled on my sister! She's gonna become obsessed with you if you keep that up, y'know." I warned him. She was already obsessed enough with Asahina-san and Haruhi. I didn't think I could deal with another obsession.

Especially if it was a creep like Sugisaki.

I had to protect my sister, right?

"Oh…" He laughed weakly, "My father used to tell me to act like a gentleman."

Well, you did a fine job at that not too long ago. I didn't know that gentlemen usually stalked and then attacked people.

"Hm." I made a vague noise in response before allowing him to open up the door and climb in. I followed him in once he had sat down. "So why the sudden change then? Has the agency gotten off your back then or something?"

I reached over and slammed the door shut. After the echoing thud faded, I realised we were sitting in silence. It was awkward. Too awkward.

I internally cursed, wishing he would just answer my question as soon as possible.

"…Yes, they have." He finally answered, "I… don't have to be as… assertive now." He chuckled weakly. "…And I can finally see my family."

Yeah, I gathered that.

"And it's all thanks to you…" I could feel him staring at me. It was making me uncomfortable.

"Ah." I cleared my throat; looking to the window and watching the scenery fly past. We were entering a rather rural area it seemed. "Well… You're welcome then. …I guess."

"Kyon, look at me."

I flinched slightly when he addressed me by my name suddenly and cursed internally again.

I really didn't want to look at him, but I did so anyway.

"What?"

He was looking at me with a sincere look on his face, with that dumb fringe of his brushed out of his eyes. He moved to take my hand, holding it tightly in both of his.

"…Really, thank you… so much."

I squirmed my hand out of his as fast as I possibly could, looking out of the window again, "…It's nothing." I was hoping he couldn't see my cheeks. They were going red.

It was definitely because of the embarrassment.

…Yeah.

_Vrrrr _

I jumped slightly at the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket, which caused Sugisaki to look at me, "Ah, that's your phone, Kyon."

Yeah, I know. It's in my pocket after all.

"Right…" I fumbled slightly to get it out of my tight jeans pocket before flipping it up to read the message. I felt a weird curl in my stomach to see it was a text from Itsuki.

'_Where are you? I went to surprise you but you weren't in.' _

Oh geez. By surprise he probably meant 'harass.'

'_Your sister said you went off with a guy. May I ask who?'_

I moved to type a simple reply but then hesitated. I read over the message again. Itsuki wasn't normally that frank.

Maybe he was worried?

If that was the case, then if I told him I was going off with Sugisaki for a while, he'd probably have a cardiac arrest.

I decided to play it safe and typed, _'Just an acquaintance. No biggie." _

Almost everything I typed was a lie. Actually heck, it was all a lie.

Sugisaki definitely wasn't an acquaintance. Hell, he was the opposite of an acquaintance. And also, it was a 'biggie' so to speak. I was spending the afternoon with a guy who not too long ago attacked me.

Yet I was surprisingly calm.

I guess that after all this time with the SOS Brigade I've learned to deal with potentially life threatening situations.

But irregardless I shoved these thoughts aside and hit send.

I could look after myself anyway.

I didn't need Itsuki to always be following me.

* * *

><p><em>I sincerely apologize for the very long and unannounced hiatus! Unfortunately, I've been completely constrained with both friendship issues and family issues. But luckily those have been sorted out and now some 2 years later (I think?) I have returned!<em>

_There aren't too many chapters left of this. But I apologize beforehand if I update rather infrequently. But this time, I'm near certain there won't be another 2 year hiatus!_

_Thank you for putting up with me and my ridiculousness. Hopefully my writing (and definitely my grammar, eugh) would have improved in the two years gap between these two chapters!_

_There will be drama in the next chapter! I hope to see you there. (It should be a longer chapter too!)_

_-Hazel x_


	17. Past

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa. The only character I own is Sugisaki. Enjoy! (Also, I'm sorry if you received like 3 emails regarding the update, but I kept changing the chapter because of mistakes!)**

**Chaper 17**

Eventually we arrived at a town. The car slowed down to the side of the pavement and I got out, with Sugisaki getting out from the other side.

It was quiet - A typical village where absolutely nothing happened and the biggest crime was forgetting to say hello to someone when you walked past them. In other words, it looked pretty boring.

I glanced around, trying to see whether there were any people nearby on the near deserted shopping district. There were a couple of elderly ladies, sitting on the front porch to one of the shops and gossiping about various news, but apart from them, there was no one else outside.

It was pretty weird.

I noticed that Sugisaki had started walking towards one of the few shops that was on the street. From the flowers and vegetables that were on display outside it, I gathered that it was a grocery store or something similar.

"This place has barely changed a bit…" He spoke rather quietly, like he was thinking out loud – Which he probably was.

I chose not to say anything and looked at the buildings. They were really old. Chunks of the tiles were missing from the rooftops and weeds were growing up some of the walls. It was clear they hadn't renovated in several decades.

We walked into the shop and I followed Sugisaki over to the counter. He hadn't said what he was buying, so I was a little curious.

There was a small elderly woman behind the counter who was distracted by her book so she both didn't see (and I assume) hear us enter.

Sugisaki was the one who spoke first after clearing his throat, "Excuse me?" He was gripping the edges of his shirt with his hands, evidently nervous.

The elderly woman looked up for a moment, her glasses slipping down her nose slightly before she pushed them back up again. Suddenly, a little unexpectedly, her face wrinkled into a warm smile, "…Ken-kun? …Is that you…?"

I raised my eyebrows in confusion before it hit me. Ken was Sugisaki's first name, and he grew up here, so they probably knew him.

I looked to Sugisaki, whose face looked just as puzzled as mine. He tilted his head slightly, "…How do you…?"

"You used to visit my store nearly every day with your mother!" She smiled sweetly as she looked at him endearingly, "…I haven't seen you in a while… My, my, have you grown!" I couldn't help but smirk slightly at the blush on Sugisaki's cheeks. However this soon faded along with his smile as the elderly woman continued speaking, "...Are you here to visit them?"

Sugisaki swallowed and nodded rather quickly, "…Yes."

The woman's smiled remained on her face as she nodded, as though she was expecting this reply, "Ah, well… take these with you…" She turned around and moved to a stand of flowers and seemed to spend a few seconds trying to select a suitable bunch. Upon deciding on a bunch of daffodils, she turned to give them to him, "Here. For free of course."

Sugisaki's eyes widened once more and moved to hold his hands out to take it, but then hesitated, "…Are you certain…?"

The woman gave a throaty laugh that was weirdly comforting, "Of course, of course!" She pushed them into Sugisaki's hands, which grasped them tightly, "Say hello to your mother and father for me."

I felt my eyebrows furrow together. If I was finding this emotional, I couldn't help but wonder how Sugisaki must feel about the whole situation.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Sugisaki speaking, "…Yes. …Yes, thank you so much." A small smile was on his face as he gave a polite bow to her, but there was sadness in the one visible eye that wasn't covered by his dumb fringe.

He turned to walk out of the shop and I moved to follow him, however my attention was caught by the old woman.

"Excuse me?"

I turned to look at her. I was a little surprised that she was going to address me, "…Yes…?"

"Are you a friend of Ken-kun's?"

I hesitated for a moment. Was I his friend? No no no, definitely not. But we didn't seem to exactly be enemies anymore either.

I decided to just go for the safe route.

"We're just acquaintances."

"Ah I see…" The old woman gave a slow nod before looking back up to me, giving me a gummy smile, "Well… please look after him."

I was caught off guard by this request, but I gave her a stiff nod in reply anyway, "O-Of course…" I glanced around the shop once more before giving her a small bow, "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

After being dismissed by a smile and a wave of her hand, I turned to walk out of the tiny shop quickly where Sugisaki was waiting for me.

He was staring at the daffodils, his eyes out of focus. He was clearly thinking about something else as I made him flinch when I spoke, "You okay, Sugisaki?"

He glanced up to me for a moment but then let out a weary sigh and looked back down to the daffodils, "I remember… when I was younger that woman used to give my mother flowers when she visited the store and would tell her what they meant." He paused for a moment, moving one of his hands up to stroke one of the petals carefully, "…Daffodils were regarded as a flower of rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life, as well as joy."

I was quiet for a moment before speaking rather simply, "Oh."

"…Yes…" Sugisaki was quiet again, lost amongst his own thoughts before he turned to look at me once more, "…Shall we go?"

I nodded in response, but I had a feeling in my gut that what I was gonna see weren't gonna be pretty.

...

We eventually arrived at the graveyard. It was located pretty close to a small road that was wide enough for us to walk along the side safely, but narrow enough that only one car could pass through it at a time.

But that didn't really seem to be an issue, seeing as everyone around here either just sat on their front porches or walked.

I followed a couple of steps behind Sugisaki, who seemed to know where he was going. He hadn't said a single word to me ever since we left the shop and his gaze remained cast forward as his hands kept a firm grip on the bunch of daffodils.

I frowned as I stared at the back of his head. I had to admit; even after all he had done I was really starting to feel sorry for the guy. He clearly cared tons about his family and heck; I don't really think it was his fault that he was dragged into the agency in the first place.

Rather suddenly, Sugisaki stopped walking - causing me to also stop abruptly a foot behind him.

"…There they are." He spoke in a hushed voice, just above a whisper as his gaze was locked on a set of three gravestones.

I turned to look at them, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. They were pretty small and terribly kept. They had weeds growing on the land surrounding them and in front of them. It compared pretty greatly to the other graves, which were surrounded by neat grass and flowers. There was ivy climbing up the centre gravestone and the pots, which I assumed originally carried flowers, were broken, with no sign of flowers remaining in them.

It was clear that no one had looked after them.

I was quiet and I turned to look to Sugisaki. However, I was on the side that was covered by his dumb fringe, so I couldn't see his eyes. What I did notice was that his mouth was closed tightly.

I didn't know what to do.

None of us spoke. All I could hear was the faint wind blowing past my ears and a couple of chirps from some sparrows in a nearby tree.

Eventually though, after what seemed like forever, Sugisaki spoke, "…They passed away in a house fire 3 years ago. My mother… My father… and my little sister."

…Woah.

I'd heard of tragic past stories before, but this was just ridiculous.

I moved to open my mouth to say something but Sugisaki cut me off, "I ran out of the house in a sheer panic… Only after I was outside did I realise that neither my parents nor my sister had… made it out. …But my neighbours wouldn't let me return inside."

He took a step closer to the graves and continued speaking quietly, "…It was the day after I discovered my esper powers…" He let out a small, pained laugh that caused a twist in my gut, "…it's a little funny, isn't it?"

No. No it's not.

"The morning after the fire… the agency turned up. …It was all very convenient. ...too convenient…" He said the last part in a whisper and then made a face like he had instantly regretted saying it, "…But... of course, I was an orphan … alone in the world, so it would only make sense that I would accept the help of anyone who would be kind enough to… extend their hand to me… right?"

It was clear it was a rhetorical question (and quite a creepy one at that), but my mind was racing. The agency… it sounded as though they organised that fire. They seemed very powerful, judging from my previous interactions with them, so I wouldn't put it past them, but… really?

Why would anyone do that to someone?

How could Haruhi's dreams of alien, time-travellers, and espers do something like that to someone?

She probably never intended to have something like this happen to someone, but she didn't know what her action did to people, did she?

"The agency they…" He went quiet for a moment. He was trying to collect himself as he swallowed deeply, "…They… took me in and trained me. …They showed me what my powers could do." He gave another dying laugh, "I…It was funny…" I heard him sniff. Although I couldn't see his face now, he was clearly crying, "…I thought… …I thought that with these… powers of mine… I could protect others…" He was quiet again, "…I thought… I could make them proud…"

Suddenly, he fell to his knees, making me jump slightly, "…I'm sorry…" He doubled over as he whole body was stricken with anguished sobbing, his head not a foot away from the graves, "I thought… I thought I was doing the right thing!" He sniffed and let out another sob. It was horrible to watch. "I… I ruined the lives of people… I didn't know… I-I didn't know what I was doing was so… selfish…!" He inhaled deeply, " …I just… wanted to see you again… I thought I could be someone… you would be proud of… not… this!"

I went to say something, anything, but nothing came out. What the hell could I say in a situation like this…?

However, I soon decided to hesitantly take a step towards him, and kneel down to where he was, "…Sugisaki…"

He continued to cry, however he was now much more subdued, "…I'm sorry… I... must look so foolish to you…" He slowly moved his shaking hands to wipe his eyes as he sat back, "…I'm sorry I ever dragged you here…"

In that moment, something inside of me that was left of my sanity must have snapped, because I then did something that not a day ago, I would have sworn to have never done.

Pulling him close to me by his shoulder, I pulled Sugisaki, the guy who not too long ago tried to erase my memories and ruin my life, in to a hug.

It was actually much more comfortable than I imagined it to be. …For a guy as skinny as Sugisaki that is.

I could feel his arms hesitate for a moment around my waist, however he soon held on to me tightly. …Too tightly actually. It was kinda hurting.

It was like he didn't want to let go of me. It was weird.

I chose to speak.

"Sugisaki… You tried your hardest. …You did what you thought was right to see your family and that's okay, I mean… you didn't really have a choice, did you?" Upon feeling Sugisaki loosen his grip slightly, I continued, "I'm sure they are proud of you, Sugisaki. …I mean, look at how hard you worked to try and see them. What really matters at the end of the day is how hard you tried, and I'm pretty sure that you did your best."

My phone vibrated in my back pocket, but I chose to ignore it. It really was not the time right now.

I could feel warm droplets falling on my shoulder. He was still crying, but quietly now as he squeezed me.

I could only imagine the look of horror on Haruhi's face if she happened to walk by and see us.

The air fell quiet once more. The silence was occasionally interrupted by a sniff on Sugisaki's behalf.

I really hope he isn't getting snot all over my shirt.

After what must have been about 10 minutes at least, he calmed down and slowly, maybe even reluctantly, pulled away from me.

"…Kyon… I…" He was quiet again.

Goddammit start filling in these silences already! I do it enough for Nagato.

However, he thankfully started speaking again, "…Would you… like to introduce yourself…?" I must have looked pretty confused, since he nodded to the graves, "…To my family."

I stuttered slightly, shocked he would offer something like that to me. "I… uh…"

He then decided to irregardless introduce me anyway. He turned to the graves with a sad smile on his face, "…Mother, Father… …Sadoko…"

I figured Sadoko was the name of his little sister.

Sugisaki continued, "…This is Kyon."

Goddammit use my real name for these sorts of introductions!

I gave a small bow of my head, trying to be respectful, "…It's… nice to meet you…" I spoke quietly, since I honestly had no idea what to say - But when I glanced to Sugisaki and saw a small genuine smile on his face, I figured it was the right thing.

"Kyon… helped me. He made it so I could see you all again." He moved to place a hand on my shoulder, which felt kind of gross, but I went with it anyway, "…And I am forever in his debt."

I turned to look at Sugisaki, who was staring at the graves with a smile on his face, "…Thank you so much."

I could feel my cheeks going red and I looked away to the graves also. Damn, he was embarrassing me.

Sugisaki then looked at his watch and sighed, "…Kyon… We should start heading back soon."

"…Right…" I looked at my watch also. It was 4:34pm, and the car journey took about 45 minutes.

I looked up to the sky. The sunlight was fading and the earth was being dyed a pinkish hue as the sun set.

Eventually I turned my gaze back to Sugisaki, who kissed his fingers and moved to place them on the gravestone. "…I love you. …I love all of you." He slowly moved his fingers into a fist, "…One day we will meet again."

Silence again.

"…Come along, Kyon." He then suddenly turned around and walked away from the grave rather quickly, cueing me to follow him which I did so, giving one last glance to the grave.

I noticed that the daffodils had been left in the vase in front of the graves.

…A sign of rebirth and joy, huh…?

...

After a long car journey which was spent mostly in uncomfortable silence, we arrived back at the front of my house.

I was about to open the door, but then hesitated, turning to look at Sugisaki, "…Will you be okay…?"

I felt like an idiot for taking for long to ask that question, but to be honest I was just waiting for the right time.

Sugisaki looked a little surprised for a moment, but the surprise slowly melted into a smile, "…Yes. I will be."

Suddenly, taking me by surprise, Sugisaki reached across the car and pulled me in to a tight hug, which I hesitantly returned. It was weird.

…He was weird.

He then whispered in my ear, "…Thank you."

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end and a blush on my cheeks as I moved away, "Yeah, yeah, you're welcome…" I quickly opened the door, desperate to get out of the car.

However, as I opened the door and stood up, facing my house, I was met with a surprise. One that made me want to go back into the car and get out of there as fast as possible.

Itsuki was standing there with a look of both shock and betrayal on his face.

My sister however (Who was behind him) paid no heed to his meaningful looks and ran past him, "Kyooooon!" She chimed excitedly, however upon seeing Sugisaki leave the car, she paused and tried to act more casual, putting her hands behind her back, "…And hello Kyon's friend…"

Was that a blush on her cheeks?

Creepy.

I didn't know what to say as I locked eye contact with Itsuki. We both just stared at each other for a minute or so.

I heard Sugisaki attempt to begin a sentence, "…So, Kyon I'll-"

But he was cut off by Itsuki calling my sisters name. She turned and walked over to him rather quickly, bobbing up and down slightly as she did so.

"Can you go inside please? The grown-ups have to talk about something important."

My sister pouted and went to voice her protests, but Itsuki cut her off, with his voice a little harsher this time, "…Go inside." Upon seeing the look of slight fear on my sister's face, the dumb plastic smile appeared on his face once more and his voice softened slightly, "…Please…?"

My sister reluctantly agreed and dragged herself inside, closing the door behind her.

Suddenly, as soon as the door closed, the entire atmosphere changed.

Itsuki's smile vanished and was replaced by a look that I hadn't seen on his face before. He looked furious and his eyes were narrowed.

It was no longer a nice conversation between friends that Sugisaki and Itsuki wanted my sister to believe.

It was a confrontation between two people who had grown to hate… no... despise each other.

And I was caught in the cross-fire.

* * *

><p><em>Another chapter done and dusted! Don't worry about the lack of Itsuki in this chapter, I'll make up for it in the next one. *evil cackling* I felt it was important to learn a little about Sugisaki in this chapter. <em>

_Also I'm not sorry for the cliff hanger, I'm evil that way. _

_ANYWAY! Thank you all for your continued support, and I hope to update soon! (I have the next chapter all written out in a plan, so it shouldn't take too long... But then again I'm currently sitting my exams. Wish me luck!)_

_-Hazel x _


	18. Comfort

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters) all ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa. The only character I own is Sugisaki. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

"Kyon." Itsuki interrupted the dead silence with his crisp voice, "…Why didn't you say where you were going…?"

Ugh… I could feel Sugisaki standing behind me staring at me as though there was something particularly interesting with the back of my head.

Why do I always have to deal with people like this?

"I…" I trailed off for a moment, the silence being interrupted suddenly by my phone going off with my ringtone playing loudly. It made me flinch.

"A-Ah… sorry… Let me just…" I moved to get my phone out of my pocket, glancing at the caller I.D. It was Taniguchi the idiot calling.

However, the moment I moved to press the button to pick up, Itsuki interjected. "Leave it." His voice was laced with anger, "…I can see now that your phone was indeed working."

I froze for a moment and quickly denied Taniguchi's call, glancing at my caller history.

7 missed calls, and 8 texts. All from Itsuki.

Uh oh.

In my defence, half those times I didn't even hear my phone, and the other half was when it would have been too awkward to pick up.

But of course, Itsuki probably wouldn't take that as an excuse.

"…Itsuki, listen I-" I tried to speak, my voice not coming out as strong as it normally would.

"No."

I felt my eyes widen as I looked up at him. He had never spoken to me with this tone before.

…I hated it.

"…No…" He continued, "…You need to listen to me now." He took a step closer to me, ignoring Sugisaki's existence completely, "Do you have any idea how much danger you just put yourself in!? Or did you just conveniently forget that Sugisaki tried to kill you?"

Oh no, believe me Itsuki I didn't forget it. Heck, the whole time I was worrying about it.

However, I never got the chance to speak as Sugisaki did it for me, "…Koizumi-san…" Woah, Koizumi-san? That's pretty formal. "Listen, this was all my fault. I just wanted Kyon to escort me to my hometown where we-"

"Did I ask you?" Itsuki spat angrily. I was a little scared by the dark look in his eyes.

Itsuki then grabbed me by the shoulder and roughly pulled me behind him, away from Sugisaki. "I know it's your fault. So you know what? …Never ever come near my boyfriend again."

Sugisaki's eyes widened, "…B-But… Koizumi-san, it's different now…"

"I don't care. Leave."

Hey, you're being really rude.

I tried to stop him, "Itsuki, c'mon, just let him explain…"

"No!" He suddenly shouted, making me flinch. He glared over his shoulder at me, "…You don't need to explain anything."

There was a shocked silence, mainly from me. I just stared at Itsuki. What happened to the Itsuki that I knew? …I didn't recognise this guy.

He scared me.

However, I had no time to think over Itsuki's creepy transition as I realised that Sugisaki had given up.

"…Very well… I'll go." Sugisaki turned around quickly, not looking over his shoulder, "…Good-bye, Kyon. …and thank you."

Ugh.

I felt like the worse guy on earth as I let him leave, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Why? To be honest… I was worried about what Itsuki would do.

Once Sugisaki had gotten into the waiting car and left, we stood in silence for a moment.

After about 30 seconds, I decided that Itsuki wasn't going to be starting the conversation, so I decided to initiate it myself.

"…What the hell was that, Itsuki?"

Silence once again.

It was broken by Itsuki's voice. "…You're asking me that?" His voice was low and dangerous. "…Shouldn't I be asking you?!"

Suddenly, before I knew what was happening, I felt my back hit the brick wall of my house behind me with a thud. I winced in pain and confusion before looking up again.

Itsuki had pushed me against the wall by my shoulders, pinning me there. "I-Itsuki, what are you-?!"

"How dare you have the nerve to ask me that!" He interrupted again and I internally cursed our height difference. He was looking down on me, "Do you have any idea how worried I was, Kyon?! I thought…" He went quiet for a moment, his eyes narrowing, "…I thought you had realised by now how dangerous Sugisaki was…"

He was pissing me off.

"Whatever." I said loudly, "Get your hands off me, Koizumi."

I felt his grip falter as I called him by his second name, and a look of sadness glazed over his eyes. However, this was quickly replaced by anger, "Kyon. Look into my eyes. …Do you see what you've done to me?"

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes as I reluctantly looked into his chocolate brown ones. However, I instantly regretted doing so as I saw the emotion in them.

…They looked so hurt. Like he was disappointed in me or something…

I felt guilt begin to well up in my gut, but I chose to ignore it. Heck, I had to ignore it if I wanted to be able to stand up to him. I hated it when people told me what to do. This much was evident when I was around Haruhi, and Itsuki was no exception.

"I'm not a kid, Koizumi. Stop treating me like one."

I was met with a stunned silence and I wished I could take back what I said. It was way out of line… I mean, Itsuki was just looking out for me, right?

…No, stupid brain… this isn't my fault. It's Itsuki's fault for being so paranoid.

Itsuki had a look in his eyes similar to that of a broken doll as he moved away from me, "…Ah… yes, You're right." His eyes were glazed and emotionless. "…I suppose I'd better go. …It's getting late."

Shit.

Say something, you idiot!

However, despite my best internal efforts to say something – anything to make up for what I said - I said nothing. Itsuki started walking away, "…Good-bye, Kyon. I'll …see you around."

Then he was gone.

…

I stared up at my ceiling in frustration. It was 1:00 am and Mr Sandman had still failed to pay me a visit. I wanted to sleep. Heck, I wanted to forget about everything that happened today and just run away, but I couldn't.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Itsuki's hurt eyes looking at me.

Guilt was gnawing at my gut and it was agonising. I knew what I did was out of line, but there was nothing I could do… right?

In exasperation, I moved my hand to grab my mobile phone which was on the bedside cabinet beside my futon. After several failed attempts to find it in the dark I succeeded and grabbed it, holding it up to my face.

It was 1:13 AM to be precise.

I had no new messages. None from Itsuki …But to be fair, I wasn't expecting any from him.

I opened up my message drafts and looked over the draft I had saved earlier. I'd spent an hour and a bit writing and rewriting my message, but I still couldn't convey in words what I wanted to say, so I decided not to send a message at all.

…That was better, right? Give him some time to cool off…

…Besides, I didn't really owe him an apology. Hell, he should apologise to me for being so rash and not letting me explain!

"Good grief…" I muttered under my breath to myself as I flipped my phone shut.

I'm doing the right thing… right?

All I knew for certain was that it was going to be a long night.

…

The next day, I staggered up the hill to school and went into my classroom after a night of little to no sleep. I walked slowly, trying to delay attending lessons for as long as possible. I saw Haruhi sitting there already in the chair behind my desk, doodling something dumb on the corner of her English Textbook as though she was trying to make a flipbook.

She seemed intensely focused on it, so I hoped that she wouldn't notice me sitting down in front of her.

I was way too tired to be dealing with her bullcrap right now.

However unluckily for me, she realised I had sat down, "Hey Kyon!" She said in a surprisingly cheerful voice.

I was quiet for a moment, contemplating what to say. Do I tell her to shut up because I'm tired? …No, I had a feeling I would be feeling her fist in my face before I had even finished my sentence if I did that.

"…Hey…" I said after a pause. I was hoping she could pick up on my tone of voice and hopefully leave me alone. I was tired, upset, and just angry with myself.

She didn't say anything in return. Maybe she was scowling at me? I don't know since I wasn't facing her and to be honest, I didn't want to know.

I was hoping our homeroom teacher would come in soon, but I had no such luck.

"What's wrong with you?" Haruhi asked in an unimpressed voice, "You look all weird and gross."

By weird and gross, she probably meant exhausted and angry.

"Look, Haruhi I…" I trailed off, glancing to Taniguchi, who was currently trying to peel some chewing gum off his shoe with his ruler - Without success. "…I don't want to talk about it…" I said quietly.

"What?!" I heard her stand up and stomp over to my desk, slamming her hand on it and glaring at me. "Hey, you have to tell your brigade leader everything! It's part of the contract!"

What contract?

I looked up at her, making eye contact with her light brown eyes. They were always sparkling with energy and curiosity. I briefly wondered what she had for breakfast that gave her so much energy. Maybe she drank 5 cups of coffee?

"I don't have to tell you anything."

This comment extremely displeased her, as I saw her eyebrows furrow together and her mouth turn into an upside down 'V'.

"…Hmph." She moved away from my desk and I heard shuffling behind me. "Well, you gotta come with me anyways to Koizumi-kun's classroom. I need to give him some paperwork." She paused for a moment, "…Maybe that might cheer you up."

I firstly felt my heart sink at the idea of facing Itsuki again – But I was then surprised at how acceptant Haruhi was of our… relationship. It made me feel a little better.

"…I'd rather not." I said quickly. If there was one think I hated more than plastic smile Itsuki, it was creepy depressed Itsuki.

Plus, I had no idea what I would say to him. Would I apologise? …Or would I expect him to apologise?

"That wasn't a request. It was a demand." I felt Haruhi pull me up with a crazy amount of strength for a girl her size by the collar of my shirt, causing me to wince.

My classmates glanced in our direction for a second, but then looked away. They were no longer surprised by the various creative ways Haruhi would take me out of the classroom.

"Guh!" I choked, my collar pressing on my throat, "O-Okay Haruhi! Just let go of me!" As I was pulled out of the classroom, I managed to sneak a closer look at the doodle she was drawing on her desk.

It was a doodle of a celestial destroying a building.

…Huh. Well, how about that.

…

We arrived at Itsuki's classroom after a short walk and with every step I felt as though my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I was stupidly nervous.

I walked quickly, trying to keep up with Haruhi's absurdly fast steps. She kept glancing at me. Maybe she realised I was nervous…?

I felt my palms sweating as we stood outside his classroom. I waited for Haruhi to open the door, going over in my head as to what I would say when I saw him.

Okay… I would let Haruhi do the talking first and then wait a little bit to see if he initiates conversation with me. …If he doesn't, then I'll tell him to meet me at the school gates once school is over so we can talk.

…Yeah… yeah, that'll be fine.

Haruhi pulled – Or rather heaved the sliding door open, causing it to clatter loudly as it did so. I winced.

Couldn't she be a lot more subtle when entering rooms?

Itsuki's classmates looked over, the surprise in their eyes being replaced by a look of slight fear. They knew all about Haruhi's schemes and what she did, so I wasn't surprised that they were probably concerned with what she had in store for them.

However, contrary to their beliefs, Haruhi just asked in a loud voice, "Is Koizumi-kun here?" She held up some sheets, "I have some work to give him."

I glanced at the sheets for a moment. I saw the phrase 'Super-ultra-gundam-lizard-alien robots' and immediately looked away from it.

I don't think I want to know what she's written about on it.

One of the guys in the class, assumingly Itsuki's classmate, stepped up. He fiddled nervously with his tie and I couldn't blame him. Speaking to Haruhi was a scary first experience for anyone. "Sorry, Suzumiya-san… He's not in today."

My eyes widened and my heart sank.

Not in? …He's never sick. From what I've heard, his attendance is near 100% and he hardly ever missed a single lesson.

"Oh." Haruhi sounded surprised and I could tell she looked at me. I must have had a seriously apocalyptic look on my face because she quickly spoke again, "Alright, thanks. We gotta go."

She then pulled me out of the classroom, although as she did so I heard some of the girls discussing something among themselves. I heard the phrase '"Itsuki's boyfriend", and I tried to tune out what they were saying as soon as possible.

So does everyone know about us dating then or what?

Once we were outside the classroom, Haruhi continued pulling me by my sleeve however not in the direction of our classroom. She was heading to the roof of the school.

Oh god.

Once we finished climbing all of the stairs, she threw the door open and quickly turned around to face me. "What the hell was that?!" She demanded, several centimetres away from my face.

Please don't spit on me.

"The hell was what?!" I shouted back at a similar volume. I wouldn't be surprised if people in the classes below us could hear.

"Your face when they said Koizumi-kun wasn't in! It wasn't a normal sad face. There was something wrong with it." She fell silent for a moment, "…Did… you two have an argument or something? You've been acting strange."

Wow. Her deducting skills are impressive. She could probably give a consulting detective a run for his money.

"…Maybe." I said quietly, trying to avoid the question.

"…So you did." She frowned and the anger in her face was replaced with concern, "…Over what…?"

I shrugged my shoulders and was about to turn to leave when I felt her hand slap my cheek. "Gah!" I winced, feeling red hot pain on my cheek, "The hell was that for?!"

"You need to be more concerned! Tell. Me. Everything!" With every letter she moved closer to me, her eyes narrowing and her voice becoming more threatening. "I can't have my brigade members fighting!" She moved away, making a rainbow shape with her hands, "I have to maintain the natural harmony!"

The hell is that rainbow meant to symbolise?

"…We have lessons right now, Haruhi… Can't I tell you after school?"

Haruhi was quiet for a moment hearing the bell signifying the start of homeroom go off, "…Crap, you're right." She clicked her tongue in frustration, "Okay! Here's the plan." She breathed in deeply before pointing at me with her finger, her fingertip just centimetres away from my nose, "Gate. After school. We'll go to a café."

"…What about the brigade meeting?"

"I'll go find Yuki and Mikuru and tell them it's not on, okay?" She crossed her arms, looking down her nose at me, which was tricky bearing in mind I was taller than her, "You'd better appreciate this! I'm cutting out valuable SOS brigade time to try and help your problems, so you owe me!"

I couldn't help but smile very slightly. I was very tired, but it… warmed my heart a little to see Haruhi so concerned for my welfare.

She then gave me a small smile as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. One that I only ever saw when it was just us two in the clubroom, and it caused my heart to skip a beat, "…You're paying for the café."

…Goddammit.

…

After school, we both headed straight to the usual café and ordered our food. I ordered a sandwich and a glass of coke, in the hope that my wallet wouldn't cry, whereas Haruhi went and ordered one of the most expensive pancakes on the menu along with some homemade strawberry milkshake. She ate the decorative strawberry on top with a grin on her face as soon as it arrived.

We then got straight down to business as I described what happened. However, I changed Sugisaki's name and made up that he was an old friend of mine from High school that I'd previously had an argument with and had beat me up. It was pretty embarrassing, but I couldn't exactly tell her that he worked for an Agency of Espers, could I?

"Hmph… that's pretty pathetic." Haruhi stated once I had finished describing the events of the previous night.

Gee, thanks.

"Yeah, well. You wanted to know and now you do." I spoke in an irritated voice, reaching for my coke and sipping it.

Haruhi sat forward and leaned on the table, her lips tightly pursed together as she thought, "Hmmm…" She hummed a little louder than necessary. "Have you texted him today?"

I was quiet for a moment before giving a quick shake of my head, "…No. I tried to… but I reconsidered…"

"Huh?!" Haruhi sat up straight again, her facial expressions becoming angry, "Why haven't you?! You coward."

Wow, she's really pissing me off.

…But I guess she's right.

"You need to apologise." She then said quickly before taking a mouthful of her pancake, chewing quickly and swallowing it whole. Once she had finished that, she drank some of her milkshake before speaking once more, "If you ask me, you were the stupid one…If I was in Koizumi-kun's position I would have been super angry too."

"…Oh."

So I was really being selfish then?

"…Look, Kyon. I know your heart was in the right place and all that, but you gotta consider Koizumi-kun's feelings, okay? He was probably totally worried about you!"

Wow, this felt weird. Relationship advice from the girl who once had a relationship with someone (probably Taniguchi) for only 5 minutes.

"…So… I should apologise to him then?"

"Yup." She said quickly without a fragment of a doubt. "Don't wuss out and do it over text or the phone though. That's pathetic."

Hah… she was probably remembering when all of those guys asked her out by phone.

"…So…" I asked a little hesitantly, "…I should go to his house then?"

She gave a big nod, finishing off her pancake and licking her fingers of the chocolate sauce, "Yep. As soon as possible." She then stopped for a moment and looked a little sad, "…Otherwise he might not wanna see you again…"

I felt bad, going to Haruhi for advice when she used to also like me. But… if I asked Asahina-san she would just freeze up and start blushing, stuttering over how she wasn't good with these sorts of things. If I asked Nagato she would just stare blankly at me. Taniguchi and Kunikida were out of the question. They could barely handle their own relationships, and I didn't really want them sabotaging my own.

I drank some more of my coke, before I gave her a small smile, "…Thank you, Haruhi."

I really was grateful to her. She really was the only one who I could talk to about this sort of stuff to a certain extent. I mean, sure she was rash and rude, but she always spoke her mind and was honest, which was the most important thing in this situation.

I saw her cheeks go a little pink and she pouted, turning her head away from me, "Hmph! You'd better be thankful… I took time out of my busy schedule for this."

I smiled weakly and nodded, "Right, right…" After a beat of silence, I looked up to the ceiling, "…Say… we really don't hang out together much anymore… do we?" I spoke quietly.

I heard Haruhi speak, some sadness in her voice, "…No." She then quickly covered this up, slamming her hands on the table and almost causing the drinks to topple, "Which is unforgiveable since I'm the brigade chief!"

Her sudden movement made me flinch and I looked at her. She was leaning on the table and was only a few inches away from my face with a scowl on hers.

I couldn't help but smile again, which caused her to look even angrier, "What are you smiling about?! It's gross!"

"…We should hang out more. Today was nice."

Haruhi clearly didn't expect that response, as I saw her eyes soften and she slowly sat back in her seat, fiddling with her headband, "…Yeah… we should." She then gave me a small grin, "No… we will! You'd better not forget about me after you get back with Koizumi-kun, Kyon! Otherwise I'll punish the both of you!"

I laughed slightly and nodded, "Okay, okay… Don't worry, I won't…"

As I looked at Haruhi, who had a huge grin on her face which was so bright it could give the sun a run for its money, and I realised just how much I missed being around her like this. …I mean, Itsuki was great, but Haruhi was who brought me together with him. So I could never forget her.

With an attitude like hers, she wasn't very forgettable anyway.

* * *

><p>Not too much Itsukyon in this chapter, but believe me there will be more in the next chapter! (I just really love writing the interactions between Haruhi and Kyon aaaaa)<p>

I'm going on holiday soon, so I may not be able to update for a while! But, who knows? Maybe I'll get the chance to before I leave!

Many thanks for reading this chapter, and see you next time!

-Hazel xx


	19. Happiness

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters.) All ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. The only character I own is Sugisaki. Now, let's finish this story! **

**EDIT: Sorry about the codes stuff earlier guys! It's now updated! 3 Thanks for sticking with me guys! Love you all! **

**Chapter 19**

After a rather tiresome journey, I found myself standing outside Itsuki's door. I stared at it, hoping that my intense gaze would somehow cause this whole situation to disappear and everything would return to normal.

...Well, normal for me anyway.

It of course, changed nothing. I still had to face Itsuki and apologise for what I did. I felt a little pumped up on the way here, mainly because of Haruhi's motivation, however, I found it slowly draining away as I came closer and closer to his house.

I'd seen the outside of his house several times - However, I had never been inside before. I forced a weak smile onto my face. I could imagine how clean it would probably be.

Eventually I gathered my courage and decided to stop being such a wuss. I slowly brought my hand up to his door bell, but I hesitated once more.

"...Come on, Idiot…" I spoke quietly to myself, hoping my words would somehow provide further encouragement.

What would I say to him? ...Apologise right off the bat? ...I was never too good at that sort of stuff, since I'd normally rather be seen dead than admitting that I was wrong.

I suppose that there is only one way I can discover what I'll say. I found myself thinking this as I quickly lowered my finger and pressed the doorbell.

The chime echoed eerily throughout the silent house and I immediately moved my hands down to my sides - Upon placing them on either side of my pants, I discovered that I was sweating.

Gross.

I stood there for a couple of seconds (although it felt like a couple of hours) and found myself starting to wonder whether he was home. He lived alone from what I had heard - So no one apart from him could answer the door.

My question was answered by a light slowly flickering to light in the hallway, and a small, "I'm coming..." Coming from inside the door.

It was Itsuki's voice.

I felt my heart pounding against my chest so hard that I thought it was going to explode out of it.

I quickly moved my hand up to my fringe, brushing it quickly with my fingers despite the fact that it wasn't knotted. I tried to busy myself as much as possible as I waited for him to answer the door.

As I heard the handle move with a dull click, I moved my hand back down to the side again and swallowed hard.

Here we go.

I was expecting to be greeted by Itsuki's look of shock and I wasn't disappointed. He opened the door with a tired expression before his eyes suddenly widened and his mouth went agape.

"...K-Kyon... What- ...How...?"

I didn't give him a chance to say anything else as I quickly moved to a low bow, my face looking down to the ground and my hands by my sides, "I'm so sorry!" I spoke loudly, perhaps a little louder than I wanted to. Haruhi had told me to make him realise I was sorry, so this was the only way I could think of without it becoming even more embarrassing.

After that, there was silence. I stayed in the bowing position, nervous as to whether he would accept my apology. I seriously pissed him off, and I felt dumb for only just realising how much in the wrong I was.

The longer the silence went on, the more I could feel my eyebrows furrowing together. Maybe he wouldn't forgive me? I mean, I was a dick earlier... Causing him to worry like that and then just ignoring that.

Goddammit...Doesn't he realise how embarrassing this apology is for me?!

I shouldn't be apologising to boyfriends... I should be doing things that every other guy is doing, like playing WOW or going out for a couple of drinks...

I was suddenly pulled to my senses when Itsuki spoke again with a small sigh, "Stand up straight again, Kyon... You don't need to bow..."

I looked up at him, hoping to see a positive reaction, but his mouth was in a tight line, and his eyes were hidden by his fringe.

I felt my stomach drop as I slowly stood up again, my back aching a little from being in that position for a while, "I..." I tried to justify myself, "I just wanted you to know that-"

I stopped speaking as I suddenly found my face in Itsuki's shoulder as he hugged me tightly.

"...Itsuki...?" I spoke in a quietened whisper into his shoulder, "...Hey... You idiot... Say something..." I bit my lip nervously, inwardly cursing as I reacted like a shy school girl. My face felt hot.

"...Kyon..." He said simply into my ear. Normally that was just a name, but he said it with so much passion and love that it made my hair stand on end.

"...Kyon..." He said again, his hug becoming tighter. I could smell the smell that I had missed - The smell of him.

Then he whispered another name in my ear in a voice so low that only I could hear. It was a name that I hadn't heard in months.

It was a name that brought an unimaginable wave of happiness to my body.

It was my real name.

Not my dumb nickname.

I stood in stunned silence for a minute or so - taking in what he said. ...My name sounded good in his voice.

"...Y-You... Idiot..." Was all I could say. I was becoming overwhelmed with weird emotions, but you know what? They weren't bad ones. I just didn't know how to react to them.

I moved my hands to his back and returned the hug tightly, "...I'm sorry..." I repeated myself from earlier.

I felt Itsuki shake his head, "No... It's okay... I apologise for losing my temper..." As he spoke, he pulled out of the hug slightly and looked at me, his chocolate brown eyes staring into mine. He had a dumb - but genuine smile across his face and it looked so frikkin' good on him that I wanted to punch a wall.

"Huh?" I replied, "Hey, moron, I lose my temper at you all of the time..." I felt my face moving into the scowl which I so often wore in the clubroom, "You don't need to apologise for anythin-"

I couldn't speak due to the set of soft lips that were on mine.

My eyes went wide for a moment and my hands groped the air for a moment, unsure of where to go. Eventually they found Itsuki's waist and settled there.

Itsuki's soft lips were warm against my own as he moved one of his hands to gently stroke my cheek as though my face was something like a precious jewel. (Although it was far from it.)

When was the last time we kissed like this...?

...Actually, I don't care... All that matters is now.

I felt his tongue up against my lips, begging for entrance - For which I allowed, my own tongue intertwining with his. It felt good - Exhilarating even.

I briefly remembered how a couple of months ago, I would have felt sick even thinking about doing something like this with Itsuki... But now...? ...Boy, do things change.

The kiss became more intense and I felt my back pushed up against the wall, one of his legs between mine and his hands on my arms.

He eventually moved away from my mouth, with both of us breathing heavily from the passionate kiss. I was pretty sure I could feel drool on my lips, but as I went to wipe it I gasped again as he started to move kisses, and gentle bites down my neck.

Shit.

This is seriously starting to turn me on.

"H-Hey… Itsuki, I- ...ngh…" I cut myself off again with an embarrassing groan. Itsuki was the only person who had ever seen me like this.

Itsuki pulled away from my neck a little, and gazed at me with lust-filled eyes. "...Why don't we take this inside…?" His smile spread into a cheeky grin, as he moved to take my hand.

"I-I…" I looked down at our two intertwined hands and blushed even more, if that was even possible. "...Y-Yeah…" Even if I wanted to, there was no way I could leave now. I had too much of a problem in my downstairs area now, after all of that kissing.

Itsuki gave a little nod before kissing me gently on the forehead and leading me inside. As I glanced behind me, watching the door close after us, I found myself thinking.

Who'd have thought that the first time that I visited Itsuki's house would be under these circumstances?

…

"...Kyon…"

I could hear a distant voice calling my name. Huh. It was probably my sister, trying to wake me up because it was morning.

I could still feel the urge to sleep. I had absolutely no intentions of getting up today.

Why the hell was I so tired?

"...Kyon?" The voice sounded closer now - and it definitely wasn't my sister. It was too masculine. ...Maybe Shamisen had started talking again.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my ear - causing my eyes to snap open.

Wait. This wasn't my room. I stared at an unfamiliar bedside table. It was too neat to be my room.

I then felt a pair of hands move around my body, hugging me. I twisted around, trying to look at who it was.

A pair of chocolate brown eyes looked back at me, warm and inviting.

It was Itsuki.

I remember now. Last night, I went to Itsuki's house to apologise, and then we…

I felt my cheeks flushing up from remembering. That would probably go to explain why my back felt sore. Also - Did he just wake me up by biting my ear?

"Good morning, Kyon… Did you sleep well?" He spoke in a quiet voice, that was soothing to listen to this early in the morning. He smiled kindly at me, evidently in a good mood.

He seemed like a morning person. Which I unfortunately wasn't.

"...Yeah, I slept fine."

He looked happy to my response. "Wonderful." He then went a little quieter, a very small blush appearing on his cheeks, "...Last night was great…"

My cheeks went a darker shade of red in return, "...Y-Yeah…" I glanced behind him, seeing the window. It was dark outside still. "...Itsuki, what time is it?"

"6:00 AM."

I stared at him, "Huh?! Why the hell'd you wake me up so goddamn early?!"

"...We have school today." He replied simply.

Oh.

Goddammit.

I sighed, "Right… I'd better get ready to head back to my place then."

No doubt I'd probably have several concerned phone calls from my sister, asking where I was. ...Or maybe she assumed I'd be at Itsuki's.

However, Itsuki just hugged me a little tighter, pushing my head into his chest. "...Let's just stay like this for a little while longer… Okay?"

I blushed a little, but then nodded. "...F-Fine… But if I'm late then I'm blaming it on you…"

...

I felt the breeze running through my hair and messing it up as I cycled to school. I still had 20 minutes left on the clock before school would start, so I thought I could relax and take as much time as I like.

Besides, I earned it. Right?

Itsuki ended up having to leave a little earlier than me - He said that he had class duties or something. So we could just meet in the clubroom after school with the brigade.

To be honest, I was a little relieved. I don't think my heart could handle being around him for any longer this morning. It was embarrassing as hell.

Turning a corner, I ended up at the train tracks with the gate down, meaning that I had to wait for the train to pass. I clicked my tongue in frustration as I stepped off my bike, holding it beside me as I waited for the train that was taking way too long to arrive.

"Kyon!"

I flinched slightly upon hearing my name spoken in that energetic voice that I had become so used to hearing and turned. It was Haruhi, looking bright eyed and enthusiastic as ever.

I'm envious she could have so much energy this early in the morning.

"Yo." I said simply, raising a hand in greeting, which Haruhi grinned at as she walked to the other side of my bike.

"I was just thinking that I wanted to see you…" Haruhi mused to herself. Ah. So this was her doing then.

"Is that so?" Was my quick response. What else could I say?

"So, you're cycling to school then?"

"Yep."

There was a pause.

"...Kyon…"

"No, I'm not giving you a lift." I replied quickly, becoming used to her mindset. She pouted angrily.

"Hey! I wasn't even gonna say that!" She was quiet for a moment before she smirked, "...But now that you mentioned it, why don't you give me a lift?"

"You're heavy."

That comment earned me a smack around the head, causing me to groan in pain.

"Don't be so rude to your brigade chief! You should worship me like a God!"

Yeah, that's never gonna happen.

"...Anyway." Haruhi continued speaking, much to my displeasure, "...How did it go with Koizumi-kun?"

I felt my cheeks become warm at the mention of his name and cursed internally. Goddammit, I only just forgot about the previous night.

I looked away from Haruhi, hoping she wouldn't see my blush, "...Fine… I sorted it all out…"

"Really?" I had no idea what facial expression Haruhi was making, since I was looking away, but she sounded happy, "Good… I hated seeing you all depressed and creepy. It was gross."

I couldn't help but smile weakly and turned to look at her, "It's thanks to you, you know. I'd hate to admit it, but you gave me the courage to speak to him."

Haruhi gave me a smile, "Good! So now… You two are back together…?"

"...Yep…" I felt a little uneasy, since she was speaking so casually about the matter. I thought that she liked me, but maybe I was mistaken.

She was always saying that love is for idiots anyway.

The train passed us at a fast speed, our hair being blown in the wind as we looked at each other. I saw Haruhi's mouth move to say something, however I couldn't hear her.

As the train became a quiet noise in the distance, I spoke again, "...What did you just say, Haruhi?"

Haruhi shook her head quickly, "No, no… Nothing important… I just had to get something off my chest."

I smiled, looking at her, "...Well, if you say so-" I fell silent, looking at her. There were tears piling up in her eyes.

"...Haruhi… You're crying."

"Huh?!" Haruhi looked shocked before moving her hand to one of her eyes, flinching when she felt they were wet with tears. "...T-That's weird… I don't feel like crying…" She quickly started to wipe the tears away, her cheeks becoming pinker as she did so, "D-Don't look at me, you idiot!" She yelled at me, but I didn't look away.

"...Haruhi… I'm sorr-"

She cut me off by smacking me around the head again, except this time with her school bag, which felt like it was filled with bricks. .

"Stupid Kyon! Don't apologise for stuff that isn't your fault!"

After I finished seeing stars, I sighed loudly. "...Fine…" Haruhi had finished wiping her tears, although her eyes were red. I climbed onto the seat of my bike as the gates at the train tracks slowly opened. "...Get on the back, Haruhi."

"Eh?" She sounded surprised for a moment, but I could then tell a smile returned to her face by her tone of voice, "Ah, so you will give your brigade leader a lift! Of course, that was gonna happen either way, but still! Its good to see you're learning, Kyon!"

I felt my bike shift as she climbed on the back, placing her hands on my shoulders as she balanced dangerously off the back. "Onwards!" She yelled triumphantly, gripping my shoulders tightly as she did so.

I pedalled off, a little slowly, but once I got a rhythm going, I started going at a decent speed. We cycled in a comfortable silence. I could tell Haruhi was still thinking about when she cried earlier.

...She really wasn't as heavy as I made her out to be.

…

We arrived in school late, mainly due to Haruhi's insistence that we cycled up the entirety of the hill that led up to the gates, much to my pain. I eventually waddled in to class with her in tow, my legs in agony from cycling up such a steep hill. It didn't help that she was shouting at me the entire way, insisting that I could be going faster. We got in some trouble with our homeroom teacher, but it wasn't as bad as when we Haruhi got caught dressed as a bunny girl.

We then both found ourselves sitting in our usual seats. Me at the window, and Haruhi behind me.

We didn't speak of her crying again. I assumed that she didn't want to. But thanks to her reaction, I managed to line up what Haruhi said at the train tracks earlier.

'I love you' isn't a phase you throw around like it means nothing, especially if it's Haruhi Suzumiya, the girl who claimed that people who fall in love are brain dead idiots who have nothing else better to do with her time, so whenever I thought about what she said to me that time, I felt guilt deep down. But… there was little I could do. I love Itsuki, and I can't help it. ...I think there was a point when I loved Haruhi, however, it was the kind of love you would hold for an annoying little sister or neighbour. Not romantic or anything.

And I think Haruhi understood that too.

Seeing that the world hadn't been destroyed yet.

…

At lunch, I sat with Taniguchi and Kunikida like always. Taniguchi was blabbing on about some girl that he met at the coffee shop the other day, and whom he then proceeded to stalk. Kunikida was nodding and occasionally commenting on what he said as he fiddled with his rice. As much as I disliked these two, it was always entertaining to listen to their idiotic conversations over lunch, if not a little pitiful.

Suddenly my phone vibrated, causing me to jump slightly. Taniguchi snickered at me and muttered something about me being a wuss, which I immediately shot down with a glare.

Taking my phone out of my blazer pocket, I unlocked it and checked the messages. It was from Sugisaki.

'Hello Kyon. How are you? I thought I should say, I'm heading to my hometown for a little while to finish some business, so I won't be around. Again, thank you for everything.' I read the message and smiled. After I finally calmed Itsuki down and we finished… making up for lost time… I convinced him to call up Sugisaki on the way to school and discuss their differences. They finally both decided to get along after a heated discussion, much to my relief.

'That's great. Good luck, and message me if you need anything.' I replied quickly, my fingers gliding over the keys. I was glad that he was finally going about independently without being held back by The Agency. I also didn't have to feel like an asshole for messaging him anymore either. ...I mean, I still didn't trust him, but when he wasn't being all creepy and angry, he was actually a pretty okay guy.

Sliding my phone back into my blazer pocket, I found myself smiling like an idiot. The last time I felt this peaceful was… Probably some time before I met Haruhi.

"Hey Kyon, what you grinning 'bout?" Taniguchi enquired, being as eloquent as always as he spoke with food in his mouth.

I stared at him for a moment, hoping he would bite his tongue, before replying to what he asked, "Nothing much."

"...Hm…" Taniguchi pouted before looking back to Kunikida, "Anyway, as I was saying, so this girl turned around and shouted 'Why are you following me?', so I replied…"

Zoning out from Taniguchi's conversation, I came to a single conclusion about him.

He really is an idiot.

...

After an English lesson that dragged on for way too long, and a History pop-quiz that I blatantly failed, the school day was finally over. I stretched out, yawning as my poor cramped muscles tried to gain some form of relief.

I heard the chair from Haruhi's seat shift behind me, and all relief that I was experiencing disappeared immediately. She moved to stand in front of me, a sunny grin upon her face,

"Kyon! I have an idea!"

Oh no.

"C'mon, follow me!" She started walking, leaving me little choice but to follow her with a glum look upon my face, "So Tsuruya-san gave me this book on possessions and demons…"

I immediately chose to mentally block out the rest of what she was saying. Instead, I only nodded when she looked at me for a response, and occasionally sighed.

Goddammit Tsuruya-san, stop giving her bad ideas!

We eventually headed up the stairs of the block where the club room was located, with Haruhi never once pausing to ask for my opinion or even just to make small talk. Instead, she continued babbling on about how you would go about summoning demons, and how she was going to use Asahina-san as the virgin sacrifice.

Which I wouldn't allow, by the way.

Finding ourselves outside the club room, I glanced to Haruhi before nodding my head in a 'after you' fashion. If Asahina-san was changing in there and had forgotten to lock the door, I wanted Haruhi to take the bullet for me.

Haruhi quickly grabbed onto the door handle without a moments hesitation and threw it open, the door shaking on its old hinges as it did so. "Hey hey, everyone!" She marched into the room, swinging her arms in unnecessarily big strokes as she did so.

I also walked in, a lot more restrained than Haruhi was, "Hey." Looking around, I saw Nagato sitting in the corner of the room as always. She moved her head to look at us for a couple of seconds, blinked twice, before looking away once more.

"I-I'll pour you some tea!" I heard Asahina's lovely voice from the other side of the room and turned to face her. As usual, she was wearing her gorgeous maid outfit, which complimented her figure perfectly.

"So, listen here!" Haruhi exclaimed once more, plopping herself down on the chair in front of the computer, sliding on the 'Brigade Chief' armband onto her sleeve. "Our next plan for our SOS Brigade Club activities is summoning a demon!" I saw Nagato glance up from her book and look at Haruhi, a hint of curiosity glimmering in her eyes.

As Haruhi repeated the speech that she exclaimed to me earlier, I looked around the club room before sitting down. Itsuki wasn't here yet.

I felt an odd twinge of disappointment as I sat in my usual seat. I didn't really understand why, since his classes probably were just overrunning.

Leaning back in the chair, I stared up at the discoloured ceiling. Haruhi was still going on to everyone else about her 'ingenious' idea, which Asahina-san looked terrified about. Nagato continued her unblinking stare at Haruhi. She was either really interested, or super concerned as to the effects that the demon could have on everyones general welfare.

I guess I would find out soon enough which one.

The opening of a door caused everyone to look in the direction of the entrance. Holding the door open with a dumb plastic smile on his face was Itsuki.

"Apologies for being late." He spoke as he walked into the club room, pacing around the table before settling in a seat beside mine. He usually sat there when Haruhi was speaking to us about something, and we weren't just sitting around doing nothing or playing games.

I glanced at him for a moment and was returned with a genuine smile, "Please continue, Brigade Chief." He cast his gaze back over to Haruhi, a look on his face like a dog looking at his owner.

It pissed me off, but apparently pleased Haruhi who continued speaking, "No problem, Koizumi-kun. We were just discussing how we would go about summoning a demon."

"Ah, of course." Was Itsuki's simple response.

Goddammit how can anyone just agree with this idiocy?!

"Would you require materials in order to do this next meeting?" Itsuki spoke again, adding more wood to the fire.

"Ooh, yeah!" Haruhi agreed, causing me to groan loudly. "Oh, but we've already got the virgin sacrifice, so don't worry about that bit." As she spoke, Haruhi put her arm around Asahina-san's shoulder and pulled her dangerously close, like a predator.

"Waah…" Asahina-san wailed, "I-I don't want to be a sacrifice!"

I don't want you to be sacrificed either Asahina-san. Who knows what demon would be summoned if you actually were.

"Good grief…" I muttered under my breath, putting my head in my hand. I then felt my other hand being enveloped in warmth.

Glancing at Itsuki, who was looking at Haruhi with a mischievous smile on his face, I realised that he was holding my hand.

Feeling my cheeks flush up, I quickly looked away from him, casting my gaze back to Haruhi as she seemed to be reenacting some sort of scene from a movie. However, I didn't let go of his hand. Instead, I held it tighter.

It was strangely comforting.

After about 30 seconds, I felt Itsuki tap my hand with his thumb, causing me to look at him. He cast his eyes downwards, indicating to a piece of paper on the table.

I tilted my head, taking it in my free hand and trying to decipher the messy writing, clearly written by his non-dominant hand (Since he was holding my hand with his dominant one.)

'_You're cute when you're embarrassed.' _

As I stared at the message, I felt my cheeks becoming even hotter, until I was fairly certain that they were bright red. I grabbed the pen that was in front of him and hastily wrote a reply to his message,

'_You're an idiot.'_ I then drew a small frowning face beside it and pushed it over to him.

A small look of surprise on his face, Itsuki took the message and slowly read over it. His eyes widening for a moment before they softened.

He then started to laugh. It was a genuine and… really nice sound.

If I could blush any more, I was. He looked frikkin' good when he laughed, especially when it was because of me. (Even though I hadn't intended to be funny.)

This was probably the first time that I had ever seen him laugh so much. It caused me to start laughing too.

"H-Hey! You two! Stop laughing! What's so funny?!" I could hear Haruhi shouting from the other side of the room, but we couldn't stop.

"I-I'm so sorry, Suzumiya-san… I…" Itsuki breathed in and out slowly several times, trying to regain his previous composure. "I just recalled a funny moment with Kyon. I'm sure you understand."

I wiped any tears that had formed while I was laughing and looked to Haruhi, nodding to confirm his story. Haruhi gave a displeased pout in response.

"...Fine… But when this session is over, you'd better tell me what it was." She was quiet for a moment before muttering under her breath, a small blush on her cheeks, "I want to laugh too…"

I breathed a small sigh of relief at Haruhi's questionably favourable response, nodding in reply before settling down once more into my seat.

I gave a glance to Itsuki, who was still holding my hand. He had an odd smile on his face like he was trying to hold back grinning which looked ridiculous on a stupidly attractive face like his.

Turning away again, I looked back to Haruhi, who was now aggressively drinking the tea given to her by Asahina-san, who looked completely flustered and stressed about the entire situation, asking her to be careful so she doesn't burn her tongue. A quick glance to Nagato showed her returning to reading her book - Her eyes scanning over a page before turning it quickly, seemingly eager to get to the next part. She was reading something with what looked like a French title.

I suddenly felt another gentle tap on my hand. I glanced to Itsuki, who was now looking directly at me, invading my personal space bubble like the idiot he was. He tilted his head and smiled, his light brown hair swaying slightly, his bangs partially covering one of his eyes. I heard a quiet tap on the table, causing me to look towards it. The piece of paper had been flipped and there was now something else written on it.

I didn't even have to pick it up to read what it said.

'_I love you.'_

It was written in big characters across the small piece, leaving a little bit of space at the bottom. I felt myself slowly smile, a grin spreading on my face from ear to ear. I was blushing like a fool, but I was happy. Who wouldn't be happy in a situation like mine? I mean, sure it was embarrassing, but being told that you were loved by someone you care about is probably one of the best feelings ever.

Carefully picking up the pen, my grip on Itsuki's hand never faltering, I wrote another message in reply.

'_I love you too.' _

I paused for a moment, my pen slightly raised above the page. I quickly glanced to Itsuki, who also had a goofy smile on his face. I then cast my gaze back to the paper and added on something to what I just wrote.

'_...Idiot.' _

_**THE END**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks for sticking with me to the end guys! I love you all. Bonus thanks to SakuraDrops141 for always supporting all of my updates! I may write an M rated part based on the middle part of this chapter - but that's only if you all want that! <strong>_

_**Again, many thanks. Sorry for the infrequent updates.**_

_**-Hazel**_


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